New Dubai Salik gate starts on October 24

Dubai: A new Salik toll gate will open on Shaikh Zayed road in Jebel Ali from October 24, the Roads and Transport Authority confirmed on Wednesday.

The Salik gate, third on Shaikh Zayed road and seventh overall, will be located near Energy Metro station, helping divert traffic to Yalayis road and other parallel freeways.

Work on the installation of the gate is currently under way and the gate will deduct toll from vehicles on both sides of the road.

“By installing Salik Toll Gate in Jebel Ali, RTA aims to redistribute the traffic movement and divert part of the traffic movement from Jebel Ali in the direction of Sharjah and other Emirates. Motorists will be able to use alternative roads such as the Emirates Road, Shaikh Mohammad bin Zayed Road, Shaikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Road, and Al Khail Road,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA.

He added that the new gate will ease much of the pressure on the Shaikh Zayed Road, one of the busiest traffic corridors in Dubai, while also encouraging people to use public transport means.

“This is especially relevant as the Shaikh Zayed Road has a host of mass transit means such as the Metro Red Line (extending 52 km connecting 28 stations), and 12 bus routes served by 156 buses that make 1,400 journeys per day,” said Al Tayer, urging more people to use metro and buses.

Motorists coming from Abu Dhabi will have an alternative route, once the seventh interchange gets ready, which is set to open on September 15.

A recent study conducted by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has revealed that Salik toll gates have helped divert up to 25 per cent of traffic from Shaikh Zayed Road to alternative routes.

Once the upgraded interchange opens, motorists heading from Abu Dhabi will have a free exit towards Yalayis road heading all the way to Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, while those heading from Dubai can use the Al Khail road to avoid all three toll gates on Shaikh Zayed Road.

“The development of the seventh interchange and Al Yalayes, Al Asayel road will provide additional capacity to the parallel roads amounting to 12,000 vehicles per hour in both directions. It will also serve the urbanisation witnessed by Dubai. It will also increase the capacity of Al Yalayes Road to 20,000 vehicles per hour in both directions, and cut the journey time between Shaikh Zayed Road and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road to about 4 minutes,” added Al Tayer.

Being built at a cost of about Dh1.2 billion, the Al Yalayes and Al Asayel Roads project also contribute to the business activities and the movement of goods from and to Jebel Ali Port.

It also provides extra entry/exit points for the areas such as Al Furjan, Discovery Gardens and Jebel Ali Development.

Salik toll system was introduced with two gates – Al Garhoud and Al Barsha – in 2007, with additions the of Al Maktoum Bridge and Al Safa in 2008, while two more gates were added at Al Mamzar and Airport Tunnel in April 2013.