Dubai: New entry and exit points to Business Bay and Downtown Dubai will be ready by year-end, reducing traffic between interchanges 1 and 2 on Shaikh Zayed Road by up to 15 per cent, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said Saturday.
According to the RTA, 85 per cent work in the phase one of the Parallel Roads Improvement Project in Godolphin district has been completed, which includes a 3.5km six-lane flyover running across Dubai Canal, over the Godolphin stables, all the way to Meydan Street.
The Dh578-million phase one also includes a redesigned interchange connecting Al Khail Road with Meydan Street.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said the portion of flyover running across the Dubai Canal is already completed and the rest of thee project will be ready in the last quarter of this year.
Al Tayer added that the entire project to be completed in two phases will be worth Dh1 billion. He said that the new entry points, once open, will mitigate the traffic density on Shaikh Zayed Road, between Interchange 1 and 2 by 15 per cent.
“It provides additional entry/exit points to Business Bay and Burj Khalifa district with a capacity to handle 20,000 vehicles per hour in both directions. It would also step up the capacity of the Meydan Road, and cut down the journey time between Shaikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road from 12 minutes to about 2.5 minutes,” said Al Tayer.
The project also includes a ramp for Meydan Property Development Project, and ease the pressure on the Financial Centre Road, which will see the construction of bridges extending 5,665 metres and underpasses running 2,445 metres.
Also part of the project is a two-lane bridge to serve the traffic inbound from Al Khail Road in the direction of Sharjah to Al Asayel Road, up to the junction with Oud Metha Road.
Roads and Transport Authority director-general Mattar Al Tayer announced that the completion rate in the Parallel Roads Improvement Project’s Phase 1 (Godolphin district) had reached 85 per cent. The two bridges crossing over the Dubai Water Canal had been accomplished and all construction works under this phase would be completed in the final quarter of 2017.
Phase Two to cost Dh336m
Work on the Dh336-million Phase Two began in the second quarter of 2016 and includes the improvement of the western part of the Parallel Roads between Al Meydan and the Financial Centre Roads across Business Bay district.
Lane capacity will range from three to four lanes in each direction, and service roads will be provided in both directions in most parts of the project.
“This phase includes construction of a 240-metre flyover at the intersection of Al Saada Road and Burj Khalifa Boulevard, and a 535-metre tunnel at the intersection of Al Saada and Business Bay roads. Works also included the 500-metre bridge at the extension of Al Saada Road crossing over the Dubai Water Canal which was completed with the opening of the canal,” said Al Tayer.
Work includes construction of a 420-metre bridge at the intersection of Al Meydan and First Al Khail roads, a 420-metre tunnel to allow left turn from Al Saada Road to Meydan Road, and a 340-metre underpass for horses crossing at Dubai Stables. Phase Two is expected to be ready by mid-2018.
The additional traffic corridor, which comprises three lanes in each direction, extends for 108km from the southern tip of Shaikh Rashid Road to the entrance of Abu Dhabi.
