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New pedestrian bridge at Al Qusais

DUBAI - Dubai Municipality has concluded the construction of a pedestrian bridge at Al Qusais as part of a Dh17.5 million project to construct five new pedestrian bridges in various parts of the city to ensure the safety of pedestrians and facilitate their movement.

According to a municipal official, the municipality has received several designs for these bridges based on recommendations of a study carried out by the civic body in cooperation with a private consultant firm on the pedestrian movement in the emirate.

"The study has pinpointed the need to build pedestrian bridges in sensitive areas so as to cope with the projected growth in population and vehicular traffic over the next few years. These areas include the Abu Hail Street (near Abu Hail Centre), and Al Nahda Street (near Union Cooperative Society in Al Qusais). There are also plans for three pedestrian bridges in and around the Zabeel Park, works on which are currently under way. One of these bridges will be built to serve the toy train service inside the park," he said.

The official added that designs of the bridges incorporate a modern outlook and state-of-the-art features that will facilitate the pedestrian movement to a great extent.

He noted that the study took one-and-half-years to complete, which also highlighted the need to build multi-storey car parks in and around the city.

"We have organised a 'design and implement' contest among consultant firms to get the best designs for these bridges. The contest encouraged them to bring out the best in them because one of the main conditions of the contest was that the company which will win it will actually implement it on the field. This led to innovation and creativity," said the official.

He added that the pedestrian bridges in Abu Hail and Al Qusais would cost Dh5 million whereas the three bridges in and around Zabeel Park would cost Dh12 million.

In defining areas that require new pedestrian bridges, he said, Dubai Municipality has taken into consideration several factors including the pedestrian movement, density of the crossing, percentage of accidents involving pedestrians, and suitability of the location.

The study on pedestrian and vehicular movement in the emirate has pointed out that Abu Bakr Al Siddique Road (from Clock Tower Round-about to Al Muraqabat Intersection) witnesses the heaviest pedestrian and vehicular movement in the emirate.

"Some 443 people use this particular road in one hour. The total number of vehicles using the road in an hour (both directions) is 5,284," he said.

There are 561 people using Al Nahda Street (from Al Nahda Round-about to Al Qusais Intersection) in one hour whereas the vehicular movement in this road is 3,637 vehicles per hour.

There are already 11 pedestrian bridges in the emirate that have contributed largely to reduce traffic accidents and smoothening vehicular traffic in the city. The municipality uses metal bridges which, unlike tunnels, can be moved to other places if necessary.