Dubai: Lane closures on Dubai’s Zabeel Road caused congestion in the area, with traffic spilling onto the side streets in Karama over the weekend, residents said.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) had on Friday announced it will be closing two out of three lanes till Sunday morning. It appears the lanes have been closed for upgrades.
The RTA said on its Twitter account, @RTA_Dubai: “For users of Zabeel Road, please be informed that two out of three lanes will be closed starting from 9am on Friday, May 3 until 5am Sunday, May 5. Please use alternative routes to reach your destination.”
It added: “To reach your destination on time, please use alternative routes (Umm Hurair Road, Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Road, Shaikh Zayed Road).”
Zabeel Road is a major entry and exit route to the densely populated Karama area.
Motorists said they were stuck on the road following the lane closures.
Mohammad M., a motorist who lives in a building on Zabeel Road, said a lap that usually takes five minutes for him to cover extended to around 40 minutes on Friday night. “There were cones on the closed lanes and traffic was barely moving. It was the weekend rush plus the traffic for the Super Sale. Even the inner roads around Hamdan colony were packed. It felt like all the entry and exit points of Karama were blocked, you couldn’t get in or out,” he added.
Another motorist, S.B., said it took him 25 minutes to cover 500m on Zabeel Road at around 10pm on Friday.
“I was stuck again around 12.30pm on Saturday. There’s only one lane to use and all the traffic in the direction of Bur Dubai has to make do with one lane instead of three. That’s slowing everyone down,” he added.
