Dubai: Commuters were surprised to find the new north-bound side of Shaikh Zayed Road bridge open to traffic on Thursday morning.
The six-lane bridge, part of the ongoing Dubai Canal project near Interchange 2, was opened in the direction of Sharjah by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
Traffic has been diverted to the new bridge, which stretches around 800 metres.
Two of the lanes approaching the bridge were closed on Thursday morning but all lanes of the bridge were opened once vehicles passed through the small construction bottleneck.
Surprise move
There was no prior public announcement from the RTA that the flyover would open Thursday morning, although it was widely thought to be imminent.
An immediate comment from the RTA was not available on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, there were long tailbacks on Shaikh Zayed Road on the approach to the flyover as traffic adjusted to the new development.
However, traffic on the flyover itself was free-flowing.
Ben Elliott-Yates (@Specialmonkeybo) was less impressed, apparently hinting at the tailbacks on the approach to the flyover seen Thursday morning.
“Congratulations, new SZR bridge is open, journey now takes 1.5 hours instead of 30 mins,” Elliott-Yates wrote.
Other half
Work will now begin on the other half of the flyover in the direction of Abu Dhabi, which is expected to be ready by the end of 2016, Gulf News reported earlier.
Once ready, the 16-lane flyover will take motorists eight metres over Dubai Canal, a manmade waterway that will cut cross Shaikh Zayed Road, Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Road before emptying into the sea.
Flyovers are also being built on Al Wasl and Jumeirah roads as part of the Dubai Canal project, to allow the 3.2-km long canal to flow underneath.
The Al Wasl Road flyover, which is part of phase two of the Dubai Canal project, will include a ramp that will ease traffic from Al Wasl Road to Al Hadiqa Street.
Construction of the flyover as well as the ramp is also in the final stages.
Work is also under way on the Jumeirah Road flyover and, according to a source working on the Dh2 billion project, all three phases are running on schedule.
