Church-goers caught up in traffic gridlock

Dubai: Traffic dampened the Christmas spirit for a majority of worshippers who were on their way to attend the midnight mass.

They braved their way through long serpentine queues on roads leading to churches in Jebel Ali and Oud Mehta Road in Dubai on Christmas Eve.

Some motorists took advantage of the traffic jams to exchange greetings with other fellow motorists. They were seen rolling down their windows and gesturing to each other, and there were also those who enjoyed lively carols that boomed from their sound systems.

Gulf News learnt that there were worshippers who finally decided to turn back and go home after struggling to the half-way point in order to escape the traffic situation.

"It was an absolute mess as far as traffic was concerned on Interchange No 6 all the way to the church in Jebel Ali," said John Mathai, a florist.

"I was on my way to church for the midnight mass but turned back after I saw a long stretch of traffic. It was a bit disappointing for not being able to attend the mass. There were trucks, sewage tankers, sedans, SUVs all struggling to get out of the bottleneck," Mathai added.

Ashraf Owais, a resident of the Gardens, found himself stuck for 20 minutes on Interchange 6 on Shaikh Zayed Road.

He said: "I was thinking of taking Interchange 5, but changed my mind and got caught in the traffic congestion. There were a lot of worshippers heading to the church in Jebel Ali battling a long line of water tankers."

A policeman was vainly trying to control the late night rush hour traffic.

It was cars, cars everywhere, but nowhere to park on Oud Mehta Road. Cars were parked as far as Lamcy Plaza and on the dirt road behind Wafi and Citi-bank and worshippers preferred to walk to Saint Mary's and Trinity churches.

"It was a sight to behold with young and old making their way to the church on foot.

"There was no way that one was able to enter Oud Mehta Road from any side. It was chaos all over," said Elizabeth Thomas, a resident of Dubai.