Dubai: Plans are afoot to build a new school in Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), with the launch date expected following the opening of three new roads to the community.
Residents of JVC have shown concern about the lack of sufficient entry and exits routes at the community. They fear that a new school will only cause more congestion.
However, the new JSS International School, planned to be built in JVC 2, is expected to commence after the completion of Nakheel’s project to open three new entry-exit points via Hessa Street to the community, confirmed a spokesperson from Green Bridge Engineering, the contractor for the project.
Franswa Menezes, Business Development Executive at the company, told Gulf News that while the school is in its initial stage of construction, it is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017.
“The school is still under the mobilisation stage, and we are currently waiting for approval to start construction on the main building, which will take up to 12 months,” he said. The 19,000 square metre school will be open to students in lower and middle school, up to Grade 10.
While residents in JVC are pleased with the development of their community, some remain anxious about the traffic problems in the area.
“Having a good school in JVC is good for the community, especially given that it’s growing and there will be more facilities coming up. But we should be thinking of how to completely tackle the traffic woes,” said freelance artist and illustrator Yamini Manala, 38, from India.
She believes that the planned exits to Hessa Street won’t solve the traffic problem fully, as a connecting road to Al Khamila Street is what is urgently needed to relieve the congestion in the area. “To reach JVC from Al Khamila Street, it currently takes around 45 minutes in the evening peak hours,” said Manala.
She pointed out that the difficulty many residents face on a daily basis is merging into Hessa Street, and into Al Khail Road from Al Khamila Street. Another resident, Pearl Vijay, 32, from India, said she doesn’t believe that the construction of the new school will worsen the traffic situation in JVC due to the new plans to open exits to Hessa Street.
“School timings and work timings differ, hence it will not be as bad as many residents imagine it to be. Reserving one entry and exit point for school buses and other student vehicles during pick up and drop off hours will be helpful too,” said Vijay.
Having lived in JVC for over a year, Vijay said she has not come across any traffic issues within the circle. “It’s outside traffic that seems to be of inconvenience at times, so another exit will surely help ease the inconvenience to a great extent,” she said.
Along with other residents, Vijay said she is happy to see the community developing, and would like to see an activity centre and mini mall in JVC. “It would be great if we didn’t have to drive our kids out of JVC for their weekly dance/music/karate class. A mini mall would be an excellent addition as well,” she said.
JVC is one of Dubai’s largest and fastest-growing communities, placed between Al Khail Road and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road. The new exits to Hessa Street from JVC are a part of a Dh18.5 million project by the community’s developer Nakheel. The project will begin in February and is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2016, confirmed a spokesperson from Nakheel.
