Dubai: New Dubai residents and visitors are getting lost in a maze of confusing new road names that have replaced easy-to-understand community-based names.
Previously, all street signs in new Dubai’s roads had names of communities — The Springs, The Meadows, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Emirates Hills, The Lakes, Jumeirah Islands -- which made it relatively easy for visitors and residents to find their way around.
But now new signs have sprung up all over New Dubai driving motorists around the bend in trying to figure out where Al Naseem St or, say, Al Sohool St leads.
“I’ve been living here for a long time so I know my way around,” said Ben, a resident of The Lakes. “But visitors are simply lost with these new signs. The street names do not reflect the actual names of the communities.”
In the past, all signs had clear directions to communities, where many Western expatriates live. “New Dubai is made up of various gated communities. But if the names of these communities are not reflected on the road signs, people are simply going to lose their way,” said Annie, a resident of Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT).
She cited the example of the road leading to JLT which now reads Al Sarayat St. “Previously it read just ‘JLT Road’ – which easily showed the way for people to this development. Now, if someone is unaware that Al Sarayat St leads to JLT, they may think they have lost their way,” said Sarah.
Similarly the sign on the road leading to Jumeirah Islands (JI) now reads Al Worood 3 St. “I was initially confused after reading the new street name,” said M.M., a long-time JI resident.
Access to Jumeirah Park and Jumeirah Village Circle have opened up recently. None of them are mentioned on the signs leading to these communities.
But another resident said the new street names are fine, as they are part of Dubai’s cultural heritage. These names, he said, aren’t as bad as tongue-twisters found in Nordic or Far-Eastern countries (like Skólavörðustígur in Iceland or DàhúshanzhuangJi in Taipei).
Sam, a Meadows resident is, however, not convinced. “A visitor will get stuck, as they cannot relate to these names.
“When you take the road from Choithrams (supermarket) in The Meadows towards Jumeirah Islands, you will see three boards that read — Al Worood 2 St, Al Asayel St., Al Wajeha Al Bahriah and Al Worood 3 St. How do you know which one leads to Jumeirah Park, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Village Circle?,” asked a resident.
What’s new:
Al Worood 3 St. leads you to Jumeirah Islands
Al Sohool St. leads you to The Meadows
First Al Khail St, Hadaeq Mohammed Bin Rashid name boards leads you to The Lakes community and Emirates Hills
