DUBAI — The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has plans to construct 17 pedestrian crossings and a number of light signal-controlled crossings at an estimated cost of Dh70 million to smoothen the daily road movements and provide more safety to the daily pedestrians.
The authority is currently constructing an overhead pedestrian crossing at Casablanca Road. Engineer Nabeel Mohammed Salah, Director of Roads Department at Traffic and Roads Agency, said that the project would be completed by 2008.
In addition, 47 pedestrian crossings are being constructed as part of Dubai Metro Stations Project. Twelve of these are located at the Dubai Metro stations on Shaikh Zayed Road.
“When these crossings are completed, the number of pedestrian crossings in the city of Dubai is expected to rise to 84. Some of these are fitted with air-conditioning systems and electrical elevators. RTA prioritises the safety of pedestrians and road users and makes substantial efforts to initiate the necessary measures for maintaining pedestrian safety particularly in the accident prone areas,” added Engineer Nabeel.
He further stated that these dedicated pedestrians crossings had resulted in substantial reduction in the number of serious as well as minor road mishaps. He elaborated that during this year, work is expected to be completed in pedestrian crossings at Abu Hail Road, Beirut Road, Umm Suqaim Road, Airport Road, Casablanca Road and Abu Bakr Al Siddique Road.