UAE | Traffic and Transport

Fence 'will cut deaths on Dubai's danger highway'

The process of building a fence along the city's most dangerous road has started in a bid to prevent pedestrians from crossing it.

  • By Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 October 5, 2006
  • Gulf News

  • The fence being erected in the middle of Shaikh Zayed Road opposite Wafi City in order to stop pedestrians from crossing the busy road.
  • Image Credit: Tracy Brand/Gulf News

Dubai: The process of building a fence along the city's most dangerous road has started in a bid to prevent pedestrians from crossing it.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has started implementing a project to fence the entire length of Shaikh Zayed Road and part of Shaikh Rashid Road to reduce accidents involving pedestrians. According to RTA statistics, Shaikh Zayed Road claimed the highest number of pedestrian lives last year.

Out of the total of 100 pedestrian deaths on Dubai roads, some 23 people lost their lives while crossing this highway in 2005.

As part of its traffic safety measures, the RTA will install a 32km-long median fence along the full length of Shaikh Zayed Road from the Trade Centre roundabout to Jebel Ali and on Shaikh Rashid Road from the Trade Centre roundabout to Al Garhoud Bridge. It will cost around Dh21.7 million.

Pedestrian deaths

"The number of pedestrian deaths has increased sharply over the last three years. Four pedestrians died on Shaikh Zayed Road in 2003 and 12 in 2004 while the death toll touched 23 last year," said an RTA roads department official.
Currently, Shaikh Zayed Road has only two pedestrian crossing facilities between the Trade Centre roundabout and Defence Interchange.

There has been an overall increase in the number of pedestrian deaths on Dubai roads during the last three years. According to the RTA study, 69 pedestrians died in 2003 in traffic accidents. The number increased to 83 in 2004 while it touched 100 deaths in 2005.

"The RTA is concerned about this problem and has proposed a number of projects to curb pedestrian deaths," said the official.

The authority has already identified a number of blackspots where pedestrian accidents have occurred and proposed solutions.

The RTA will also soon bring out a traffic safety guide book, which will include statistics about accidents, causes of accidents and suggestions to avoid accidents.

Shaikh Rashid Road and the Shaikh Zayed Road corridor, from Garhoud Bridge to the Abu Dhabi border, is a 59-km-long freeway with residential, commercial and industrial developments on both sides.

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