Lesser traffic from November? All the roadwork updates that will make your commute easier in Dubai
All the upcoming projects expected to slash travel times for motorists
Dubai: Can’t seem to escape the traffic? Come November, new traffic projects in Dubai are bound to ease your drive back home, with new Salik gates and bridges helping cut down travel time.
Here are all the recent updates that will make your drive easier:
Two new Salik gates
The Al Safa South toll gate is expected to reducing traffic from Al Meydan and Al Safa Streets to Sheikh Zayed Road by about 42 per cent.
By the end of November, two new Salik gates will become operational – one on Business Bay (along Al Khail road) and the other on Sheikh Zayed Road (between Meydan and Umm Al Sheif road).
So, whether you take Al Khail Road, Rebat Street, Financial Centre Street or Sheikh Zayed Road, your trips are going to get a lot faster and smoother.
The new Salik Gate on Sheikh Zayed Road will be called ‘Al Safa South’ and will work in conjunction with the current Al Safa toll gate, similar to how the Mamzar toll gates work.
The new gate will be on the other end of the bridge running over Dubai Canal, and if you cross both gates within an hour, you will only be charged once.
Here’s how the Salik gate on Business Bay Crossing is going to help:
• Rerouting traffic from Jebel Ali to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Emirates Roads.
• Reducing Al Khail Road’s congestion by up to 15 per cent.
• Reducing Al Rebat Street's traffic by up to 16 per cent.
• Reducing Financial Centre Street's traffic by 5 per cent.
• Cutting the total travel time on Al Khail Road, between Al Rebat and Ras Al Khor Streets by 20,000 hours daily in both directions.
And, here’s how the Al Safa South Salik gate will reduce your travel times:
• Reducing the right-turning traffic from Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Meydan Street by 15 per cent.
• Reducing traffic from Al Meydan and Al Safa Streets to Sheikh Zayed Road by about 42 per cent.
• Reducing traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road between Financial Centre and Latifa Bint Hamdan Streets by four per cent.
• Optimising the use of First Al Khail Road and Al Asayel Streets by four per cent.
All the routes listed above are expected to experience an improvement in traffic flow once the new gates become operational.
New bridges
On September 1, the RTA also announced the opening of two new bridges, as part of the Al Khail Development Project.
• The first bridge is located in Zaa’beel. The 700-metre-long bridge has three lanes and connects traffic from Zaa’beel Palace Street and Oud Metha Street to Al Khail Road towards Jebel Ali.
• The second bridge is located in Al Quoz 1. The 650-metre-long bridge has two lanes, connecting Al Meydan Street to Al Khail Road towards Jebel Ali.
If you drive down Al Khail Road, you will inevitably notice roadworks that are part of this development project. The RTA has split the work across seven sites along the highway, and in October three new bridges are expected to be opened, improving traffic towards Deira.
The authority has also recently announced improvements to roads leading to school areas in the emirate. You can read more about it here and here.