UAE | Traffic and Transport

Road signs signal confusion

Motorists say the new directional signboards Shaikh Zayed Road are still confusing.

  • By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter and Rabab Khan, Community Journalist
  • Published: 23:17 March 25, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • A road sign on Shaikh Zayed Road indicates the exit to the Safa Park area. The changes to the road signs have made it more difficult for drivers to navigate.
  • Image Credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Gulf News

Dubai: Motorists say the new directional signboards Shaikh Zayed Road are still confusing.

Many of them say the signs have often led them to go in loops.

Therefore, many residents prefer to use landmarks instead road signs to get their directions right.

Signboards in the Jumairah-3 area were changed as part of a pilot project for the new addressing system, and a sector of Shaikh Zayed Road from the second to the fourth interchange has also been selected to implement the Directional Signs System.

Dawood Al Hajri, director of the planning department at the Dubai Municipality, said the public need not worry about not getting acquainted with the directional signs and street names as a massive campaign will be launched once the final plan is approved and put together.

"Residents need not worry at all about getting confused. The entire street names and directional signs will be changed but our priority is to make life easy for our residents and that we intend to do with an awareness campaign. What they see now is just a pilot project," he said. "For example if a directional road sign board or a street name is kept under a particular landmark existing in a particular area then it is not proper, this is because there might be other malls and public buildings also located in that area," Al Hajri added.

The Dubai Streets Naming Committee is currently finalising the new addressing system and Directional Signs System.

The final plan will be based on feedback on the pilot project.

Yesterday the Committee held its fourth meeting chaired by Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality. The meeting discussed the implementation of Dubai's street naming system.

The meeting also reviewed the proposals of the team for the Industrial Area, Dubai Financial Centre, Sufooh-1, Sufooh-2 and Dubai Marina the limits of each area.

The committee was keen on putting simple and easy names appropriate to each area taking into account the historic nature of the emirate and the events associated with the areas as well as the names inherited from the old generations. It also took into consideration the names agreed upon by the people of one area for their streets, in addition to coordinating the names of the streets and linking them up with other streets connected with them.

The first phase of the project includes selection of appropriate names for all the streets of Dubai. The committee proposes to take into account the approved norms that emphasise on traditional and old names that have been in circulation for generations. The logical links to sea, land, types of fish, fishing gear, names of ships etc would also be taken into account.

In the final phase, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Minister of Finance, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, will be briefed on the list of names proposed based on the divisions of areas prepared for the streets of the emirate.

There will be 12 types of areas such as the heritage and old Souq area, coastal zone, mixed housing areas, areas parallel to Dubai Creek, the industrial areas, residential areas of nationals, special financial zones, palace and private housing areas, academic and cultural areas, rural areas, International Cities and the free zones.

Residents get lost in the city

"I get lost eight out of 10 times in Dubai." Sa'ad Jasem's words rang a bell with Gulf News readers.

Jasem, a Canadian expatriate and a resident of Abu Dhabi, drives to Dubai every week for business meetings and believes it is a "miracle" when he reaches his destination without losing his way.

He said: "There is a simple and straightforward way to number the streets. However, it is not being put into practice."

Jasem, a project manager, believes a systematic approach should be used to road signage.

"I am usually confused due to the signs. I think the solution would be to use numbers only to define intersections. That way, no one would miss the road they are supposed to be on. This system is being used in Canada."

Sanam Butani, an Indian expatriate, thinks the new signage coming up could confuse motorists."I have noticed some new signs on Shaikh Zayed Road, which direct motorists towards the North or South. When you see it for the first time, you might get a little confused [does not specify the location]."

Mark Freiwat, a Palestinian expatriate, recently moved to Dubai and finds it hard to locate specific areas. "It is easy to reach the highways, but quite difficult to find your way around the inner roads. If you miss one exit, you have to go around the entire area."

Sara Badr Al Deen, a Sudanese expatriate, drives in Dubai occasionally and has her doubts about the new signage. "I do not think it would be a good move to rename roads and areas, as it might be difficult for people to adjust."

Do you find roads in Dubai confusing? What can be done to make signs less confusing? Send us your suggestions


Your comments


The easiest way of renaming would be to seek help from the common man on plans already in place and check if they undertand any of the new signage. After all it is the common man who is going to use the roads and signages.
Rajeev
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 26, 2009, 09:44

I do not think the signs are confusing in Dubai because I have the worst sense of location but these signs always help me reach my destination even though I'm going there for the first time. I have not encountered any confusion so far but possibly there would be some.
Soheb Ismail Shaikh
Mumbai,India
Posted: March 26, 2009, 08:46

They have now changed names of roads and streets which adds to the confusion of the motorists.
Tehmina Khan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 26, 2009, 08:36

Before we could find "Safa, Jumsirah, Al Quoz, 1st interchange, 2nd interchange etc" now rename all signs in Shaikh Zayed Road this is confusing. I am working in Dubai , How other emirates people will more confuse.
Rishad
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 26, 2009, 08:04

The new signage system for roads would make life in Dubai difficult. This gives unfamilar road names and leads to "east" and "west" and finally nowhere. This can be implemented for street names but not for overhead road signages. I think the old system is the best for roads.
Jonaaz
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 26, 2009, 06:45

I find it a very difficult city to navigate mainly because the turn around points are far and few in between. If you miss your exit you may drive 20 kilometres to turn around if you can figure out how. I am all for better names and numbered exits in sequence. Names should be shortened to make it easier to remember, sorry but some of the names are very long.
Keith Schulze
Mirdif,UAE
Posted: March 26, 2009, 05:27

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