Dubai
I invite the attention of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to an issue of traffic congestion within the Sonapur area in Dubai. The area is primarily dedicated for staff accommodation and consequently there is a continuous flow of traffic heading in and out of the area as these workers go to their work locations and vice versa.
The location is also facilitated with the Medical Fitness Centre operated by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Emirates ID cards centre. Residents are constantly visiting the dedicated offices to get their fitness tests done and process their ID card applications.
During the peak hours, that is between 6am to 9am and 4pm to 10pm, the traffic grows to an unconceivable level due to the continuing movement of vehicles. Additionally, to reach the premise, there are only two exit and entry routes from the Al Khawaneej side and from the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed road, both of which are two-lane streets. In both of these, there is always dense movement of both light and heavy vehicles and long queues of traffic can be seen for hours.
The stretch of road has fences at the sides and it becomes mandatory for anyone taking the exit to be trapped in the traffic to be able to find the next exit route towards various locations.
The workers who reside in the area must be getting exhausted waiting in their vehicles or buses to reach their destination after a hectic day at work, especially the ones who work on construction sites. The traffic negatively affects the movement of vehicles in the entire area, especially the exit to Sharjah from Amman Street in both directions.
Additionally, the vicinity also has an old graveyard and there is only one entrance from the main road to reach it. During the rush hours to Sonapur, the time needed to reach the graveyard is also affected with considerable delays.
I request the RTA to look into this issue and work on a solution to reduce the traffic congestion. They could provide additional entry and exit points to the premises, which would reduce traffic and increase the happiness of the general public, save tiresome hours entangled in the vehicles, limit the level of pollution and enhance Dubai’s image.
— The reader is an executive administrator based in Dubai.
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FACTBOX:
The reader’s concerns were raised with the management of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). They investigated the matter and sent a response to Gulf News.
They stated: “The road project for internal roads and accesses to the area is currently undergoing. In addition to internal road modifications, additional signalised accesses are also proposed to ease the traffic operations in the area.”
