Jumeirah bridge partially opened

Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) on Saturday opened two lanes of the six-lane Jumeirah Bridge that runs across Dubai Water Canal on Jumeirah Road.

On Saturday, the RTA opened two lanes of the north-bound bridge, heading from Jumeirah 3 to Jumeirah 2.

The rest of the flyover will open for traffic by July 21 in two phases.

Part of the phase two of the Dubai Water Canal project, the flyover comprises three lanes in each direction and rises 8.5 metres above the canal, enabling free navigation for boats in the canal round the clock.

In the next phase, two lanes on the south-bound bridge, from Jumeirah 2 to Jumeirah 3 will open next Friday, and the flyover will be in full operation in both directions starting from July 21.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, said with the completion of Jumeirah Bridge marks the end of the work on all flyovers running across the Dubai Water Canal.

The RTA opened the south bridge, a part of the Shaikh Zayed Road flyover across the canal last Friday, while the north bridge began serving traffic in January.

On June 3, Al Wasl Bridge opened for traffic fully. A portion of the bridge, a ramp feeding traffic from Jumeirah and Al Athar Road to Hadiqa Street had opened in March, while another ramp linking Al Wasl Street to Al Athar Street also opened last month.

“With the work on bridges completed, we will now focus on digging a sector of the canal underneath the bridges, building quay walls of the canal, constructing three footbridges linking the two shores of the canal at prime locations, and building 10 marine transport stations,” he said.

Part of the pending work in the canal project includes landfilling to build an artificial peninsula along the stretch of Jumeirah Park, which would double the beachside of the Jumeirah Park, increase the area of the park, and make room for adding a host of recreational activities.

Work is now under way in phases four and five of the project, which include building infrastructure for serving urban developments on both sides of the canal.

Much of the three-kilometre-long canal snakes through Safa Park, adding a water front and several other recreational facilities to one of the oldest parks in the city.

The Dh2-billion project, which is set to complete by the end of this year, will connect Deira Creek to the Jumeirah Beach, turning Bur Dubai into an island.