Abu Dhabi: Residents in the capital welcomed the opening of seven new footbridges last week, which they say will go a long way to making the city safer and friendlier for pedestrians.
“Earlier, we were risking our lives by darting across the streets. The new bridges are really helpful for people like us who don’t drive,” said Indian expat Sabu Joseph, a sales executive.
Bike-friendly
Sabu said he uses the new pedestrian bridge on the Sultan Bin Zayed First Street near the intersection with Dalma Street to cross to the other side to reach his workplace near the public bus stand.
Arumukhan Karthikeyan, another Indian expat, said the best thing about the new pedestrian bridges is that the lifts can accommodate bicycles. “None of the existing bridges was useful for bicyclists. Now I can safely cross the road with my cycle,” said Karthikeyan, who works for a dry cleaning company.
Abu Dhabi General Services Company (Musanada) that undertook the project said the bridges will ensure public safety and encourage an environment free from pedestrian related accidents.
“All footbridges are equipped with electric elevators and efficient lighting. We also improved the surrounding areas of these footbridges to ensure the users easy and safe access and to encourage travel on foot,” Omar Matar Al Mansouri, Acting Director of Roads Department at Musanada, said.
The footbridges are located on (1) Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street near the intersection with Dalma Street and Mohammad Bin Khalifa Street; (2) Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street near the intersection with Mohammad Bin Khalifa Street and Shakhboot Bin Sultan Street; (3) Sultan Bin Zayed First Street near the intersection with Dalma Street and Mohammad Bin Khalifa Street; (4) Al Raha Mall; (5) Mussafah commercial area near the intersection with Street 8 and Street 17; (6) Al Samha area near the Petrol Station and the seventh footbridge is located near Dalma Mall.
