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Dh1b mega projects to ease traffic flow on major roads

While work on this project will start later this year in December, these two new lanes are expected to be opened to the public by August next year.

Once open, they will provide easy movement of traffic from all directions and will help increase the movement capacity of vehicles to 12,000 per hour. Currently, the traffic movement is around 6,250 vehicles per hour.

Other major road projects, worth Dh1 billion, include the ‘Double Decking’ of Al Doha Street which will include three lanes towards Jumeirah and five lanes in the reverse direction and the development and improvement of Jumeirah Lakes intersection on Shaikh Zayed Road.

The move came after His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved the construction of major road projects worth Dh1 billion.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA, said at a Press conference yesterday, that “keeping in mind the current traffic conditions on Maktoum Bridge, two lanes will be added from Deira to Bur Dubai by providing a lift span bridge, which can be opened and closed. The bridge will replace the main median which separates the traffic of Shaikh Zayed Road and Khalid Bin Waleed Road from the traffic existing on Oud Metha Road which moves under the bridge. In this way, the bridge will have six lanes from the Baniyas Exit to the Oud Metha exit which will have a length of 500-metres.”

From Bur Dubai to Deira, the bridge will be expanded from Umm Hurair Road to Shaikh Zayed Road to three lanes replacing the two lanes and reducing the traffic at the exit. The Baniyas Road exit will also be expanded at the intersection point towards the floating bridge from one lane to two lanes for easy traffic movement on the bridge.

Al Tayer said: “The Ras Al Khor Crossing project consist of a new 15km route which will connect the Airport Tunnel North with Al Kheel and Al Doha Roads till the first intersection on Shaikh Zayed Road South, and the 4th Crossing of Dubai Creek will comprise six lanes towards Bur Dubai and seven lanes towards Deira to accommodate the movement of 27,000 vehicles per hour.”

He added: “We have considered all five interchanges — which will be free flow interchanges — that will include the construction of more than 20 bridges and five tunnels with different lengths and width. This project is a link to the Ras Al Khor Crossing and has been divided into six contracts. Four of them currently are under construction are to be completed in March 2008.”

Engineer Maitha Bin Adai, RTA's Chief Executive Officer, said the total project cost of the Double Decking of Al Doha Road is Dh605 million and this will help improve the movement of traffic on Al Doha Road and also the traffic movement from new development projects like Burj Dubai, Dubai Mall, Business Bay and Dubai International Finance Centre.

Al Tayer also said that the improvement of Jumeirah Lakes Intersection on Shaikh Zayed Road is one of the elements of the project. These include improvements on Shaikh Zayed Road at a cost of Dh475 million which will further facilitate the movement in various directions.

Meanwhile, a new Road Safety Audit (RSA) manual will be compiled shortly in Dubai by Road Safety International, a major global consultant. The manual will guide all road safety engineers to identify technical defects on any road project in its design stages — minimising the chances of accidents.

Badar Al Siri, Director of Roads Department said: “During the audit the manual will be used as a guide which when followed constructively will help reduce accidents to a great extent.”

Al Siri said that road safety is of great relevance to complement the growth of traffic network and the growth of the emirate. Audits will be done on all freeways, express ways, arterial roads and local roads. Workshops will be conducted in months to come for engineers, designers and traffic safety inspectors by the consultants.

Nabil Mohammed Saleh, Director of Roads Department and Dr Aysha Al Busmait, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communication Department also attended the meeting.

• UAE