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The new bridge on the first interchange of Shaikh Zayed Road opens to provide free traffic flow toward Al Safa Road and Financial Center Road. Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News

Dubai: Two vital bridges linking Al Safa Road and Financial Centre Road were opened to traffic on Sunday.

The bridges are part of Shaikh Zayed Road's First Interchange, which is still under construction.

The bridges over Shaikh Zayed Road provide free access to important commercial and business hubs in the areas such as Burj Khalifa and Dubai International Financial Centre.

Traffic around the First Interchange eased up a little as only two out of the lanes on each direction of the bridges were opened on Sunday morning.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said the First Interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road ranks among the biggest interchanges in Dubai.

It comprises of several bridges with total length of about three kilometers and a tunnel extending 850 metres.

The project includes the construction of a tunnel to link the service road behind Mazaya Centre with the service road behind Shangri-La Hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road.