Dubai: A series of flyovers, ramps and widened roads will provide smooth access to Expo 2020, as the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) continues its work on upgrading road infrastructure around the exposition site in Jebel Ali.
Being developed in various phases, the RTA on Saturday announced the awarding of two contracts for phases Five and Six, which will cover improvements to both Jebel Ali-Lehbab road and the intersection of Emirates road with Jebel Ali-Lehbab road.
Apart from ensuring a smooth traffic flow to and from the Expo site, the Dh630 million upgrade will also facilitate the development of future projects in the area.
“The improvement of roads leading to the Expo 2020 site is one of the big projects currently undertaken by the RTA, to serve the needs of hosting the expo in Dubai. Due to the massive nature of the project, it has been split into six phases to ensure the timely completion of works, well before the expo opening. Contracts for the previous four phases had already been awarded,” said Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, RTA.
Phase Five
Phase Five covers the construction of bridges extending 2.6 kilometres and roads running up to 3km.
“This phase will also see widening of the Jebel Ali-Lehbab road from three to six lanes in each direction over a 3km sector, and service roads will be built to improve the current traffic situation,” said Al Tayer.
At the intersection with Al Asayel road, Jebel Ali-Lehbab road will be elevated to a bridge spanning 800 meters of six lanes in each direction. Two other bridges will be constructed to link Jebel Ali-Lehbab road with a service road extending 1km to ensure a smooth traffic flow to and from the Expo.
During this phase, Al Asayel road will have a surface signalised intersection with Jebel Ali-Lehbab road, to ensure a smooth entry and exit from and to Jebel Ali Industrial Area and JAFZA.
Phase Six
Phase Six covers the improvement of roads leading to the Expo, encompassing the construction of bridges extending 1.4km and roads of 8km in length.
“Jebel Ali-Lehbab road will be increased from four to six in each direction over a 3km sector, and the Emirates road will be upgraded over a 5km stretch,” said Al Tayer.
He added that the existing roundabout at the junction of Emirates road and Jebel Ali-Lehbab road will be upgraded to a flyover to ensure free traffic flow in all directions.
Accordingly, Jebel Ali-Lehbab road will be elevated to a bridge of four lanes in each direction, and two-lane service roads will be built at both sides.
There will be turns and ramps to facilitate the flow of traffic from the Emirates road to Abu Dhabi and vice versa, and from Jebel Ali-Lehbab road to Shaikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Road.
Traffic will flow smoothly northward from Jebel Ali-Lehbab road to Emirates Road in the direction of Dubai; and southward from Jebel Ali-Lehbab road to Emirates road in the direction of Abu Dhabi.
Over the past few months, RTA awarded four contracts for the Expo 2020 roads project.
Phase One and Two include contracts for improving Jebel Ali-Lehbab road and the intersection with Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed road.
These two phases also include the construction of bridges on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed road to serve the traffic from and to Expo 2020 site.
Phase Three and Four include upgrading two intersections of Shaikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan road, with both Jebel Ali-Lehbab road and Al Yalayes road.
They also cover the development of two flyovers at the Shaikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan road at Dubai Investment Park and the widening of Shaikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan road from two to five lanes in each direction.
