Easing the commute on the busy highway, the new flyover will open for traffic from Al Khawaneej and Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, heading towards Deira.
However, the RTA will temporarily close the parallel bridge serving traffic coming from Deira in the direction of Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Al Khawaneej pending the completion of works at the entry of the bridge and other construction works.
The second bridge is scheduled to open for traffic on March 30, while the ramp leading to Airport Terminal 3, which is also part of the Marrakech interchange, will open by the end of April.
Airport Road has been undergoing a major upgrade since mid-2016 and is set to complete by the end of next month and once completed, the travel time on the road is expected to reduce from 30 minutes to five minutes.
The Dh404-million project is part of a series of infrastructure and mass transit upgrades in Dubai, realising the Dubai Strategic Plan 2021.
“The Airport Road Improvement Project is part of a plan set by the RTA for accommodating the projected growth in the number of passengers using the Dubai International Airport which is expected to shoot up to 92 million passengers by 2020,” said Maitha Mohammad Bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency.
The RTA has been completing the upgrades in stages, with several sections of the road opening last year and, in January this year, a six-lane flyover at the Rashidiya Road intersection opened for traffic from both directions, ensuring a smooth flow of traffic in the direction of Deira as well as Al Khawaneej.
At the Marrakech interchange, where a six-lane flyover and an exit ramp will open in two stages this Friday and on March 30, the upgrade also includes a two-lane underpass to serve traffic heading left from the Airport Road in the direction of Marrakech Road.
“The improvement of Marrakech-Airport roads junction includes the construction of two bridges on the Airport Road comprising three lanes in each direction and a ramp from the bridge leading directly to Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport without waiting at the traffic signal. The project will substantially reduce the waiting time at the intersection,” said Bin Adai.
The Airport Road project covers the redevelopment of four junctions at Al Rashidiya intersection, Nad Al Hamar Road intersection, Casablanca intersection and Marrakech Road intersection.
The intersection of the Nad Al Hamar Road includes a two-lane ramp to serve the traffic coming from Nad Al Hamar Road in the direction of the Airport Road.
At Casablanca Road intersection, the upgrade includes an additional single-lane ramp to serve the traffic from the Airport Road in the direction of Casablanca Road, thus eliminating the waiting time at the traffic light.
“It also includes an alternative route for traffic inbound from Al Garhoud, thus enabling direct access to terminals 1 and 3 of the Dubai International Airport, besides increasing the number of lanes of Casablanca Road in the direction of Al Garhoud from three to four.
“The upgrade will considerably reduce the total waiting time at the Casablanca intersection, and ease the existing tailbacks generated by the overlapping traffic between vehicles heading towards Casablanca Intersection and others coming from Terminal 1 heading left to Casablanca street,” she added.
Once completed, the handling capacity of Airport Road will increase by an extra 5,000 vehicles per hour, reducing the journey time between Mohammad Bin Rashid Road interchange and Casablanca Road interchange from 30 minutes to five minutes.
