Salam Street expansion by 2010

Abu Dhabi: A project to double the capacity of Salam Street, one of the busiest roads in the capital, was officially launched by Abu Dhabi Municipality on Wednesday.

"Upon completion of the project about 6,000 cars per hour can pass with ease through Salam Street, one of the busiest streets in the city and an important arterial road," said Juma Mubarak Al Junaibi, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Municipality at a press conference in the presence of representatives from the Department of Transport and the Abu Dhabi Police.

The road is being upgraded to an urban expressway at a cost of Dh5 billion and will be completed by 2010.

The Salam Street Project combines four contracts that will create an urban expressway featuring a network of roads and tunnels that will eventually lead to a smooth free-flowing facility. Upon completion of the project, motorists will be able to travel through Salam Street without any traffic signals from Shaikh Zayed Bridge until the Mina Zayed area.

This will result to a much smoother traffic flow and faster travel time for thousands of motorists plying this arterial route. "The massive Salam Street Project [is] a timely response to the unprecedented economic and urban growth of Abu Dhabi, which consequently puts an enormous demand on infrastructure," said Al Junaibi.

100% increase in vehicles

A senior official told Gulf News that the present capacity of Salam Street is 2,500 to 3,000 vehicles per hour. "Doubled capacity will satisfy the increasing number of vehicles in the city", said Abdullah Al Shamisi, Director of Roads and Infrastructure Department of Abu Dhabi Municipality.

According to a report by the Department of Planning and Economy of Abu Dhabi Government, the number of vehicles in the emirate increased by more than 100 per cent during the past eight years, from 242,409 in 2000, to 526,161 in 2007.

Green tunnel

Salam Street Project includes a major tunnel which will facilitate an uninterrupted green drive on Al Salam Street, or the eastern ring road, without any traffic signals.

The 3.1-kilometre tunnel from Al Mina Road intersection to Al Falah Street intersection will be the longest among the four tunnels in the project. It will have four lanes of uninterrupted traffic in each direction.

The tunnel will have a state-of-the-art tunnel safety and management system to ensure that the operators can quickly react to changing situations.