Sharjah
I commute to work from the Al Nahda area, in Sharjah, and every morning I witness a trail of cars waiting on Al Nahda Street heading towards the Sharjah Ring Road and then towards Dubai. One of the main reason for this traffic block is that there is only one lane on the small bridge that motorists take to exit the Al Nahda area towards the Sharjah Ring Road (as seen in photograph). There are two lanes on the main road and also many entries from different streets. And then it merges into one lane heading to the bridge.
During rush hours, the tailbacks ripple back onto Al Nahda Street and it takes almost 35 minutes just to cross this bridge and exit the area. Apart from the motorists who are joining the main road from the different inner roads, motorists from the Al Khan area, Al Wahda Road and King Faisal Street also join in. They are usually travelling towards Dubai through the Sharjah Ring Road, too, and thus use the same exit. It adds to the traffic congestion and at times the traffic comes to a standstill during rush hours.
It takes a lot of patience and tolerance by the motorists to cross the bridge and drive on towards Sharjah Ring Road. Every day I see inconsiderate and impatient motorists jumping the queue so that they can be first in line at the exit. This is the situation on a daily basis for the past several years.
I gently appeal to the authorities to take the necessary steps to widen the roads and add another lane to the small bridge located in the Al Nahda area to ease the traffic gridlock in the area. They could also consider setting up an alternate road for Al Nahda residents, which is one of the busiest residential areas with several highrise buildings, in order for the residents to reach the Sharjah Ring Road without having to cross this bridge.
It is really disappointing that so many new buildings are coming up in this area, but the road networks have not been restructured considering the increase in the number of residents in the area.
— The reader is based in Sharjah.
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