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Key Al Quoz road almost complete, motorists welcome revamped roads

The project will address the growing traffic volumes, and ease the mobility in various parts of Dubai.

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Indian expat and Dubai resident Renjith Ramakrishnan has been complaining in recent months that a 7-km drive from his work at a car showroom near Times Square Mall to his residence at Al Khail Gate community was taking him more than 30 minutes during evening peak hours. With the usual bottleneck and detours, driving back home has become circuitous for him. Recently, the barriers have been removed he was surprised to see the usual road, which got wider than before.
The ongoing road construction is part of a project linking Jumeirah with Al Khail Road and it is almost done with Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) making final touches to the two-level bridge road from Umm Al Sheef Street to Al Wasl Street, crossing over Sheikh Zayed Road and up to Latifa Bint Hamdan Street.
Ramakrishnan and other motorists are now eager to use the soon-to-be-opened Latifa bint Hamdan and Umm Al Sheef Streets Improvement Project built at a cost of Dh800million. They are hopeful that the heavy traffic that they have been experiencing for months will be a thing of the past.
According to the RTA, "the project will address the growing traffic volumes, and ease the mobility in various parts of Dubai. It also complements RTA's strategic plan for improving vertical traffic corridors such as the Airport Street, Tripoli Street, Al Yalayes Street and Al Asayel Street".
Another resident of Al Khail Gate community, Filipino expat Susan Francisco, told Khaleej Times: "It's now a big relief for us. There is still slight inconvenience but I hope everything will be streamlined very soon. The only problem now is that lanes have been changed again and I have to get used to this latest traffic flow."
Arun Parambath added: "Going to Sheikh Zayed from Al Khail Gate community will be a breeze but hopefully there will be a signal and lane before the bridge that will lead to our residence if we are coming from the opposite direction, from Al Khail Road."
Another motorist, Zafar Mahmoud, who lives near Al Khail Mall, for his part is looking at the larger picture how the project will help promote the other growth corridors in Dubai.
"I have been resident in the area for almost eight years and I've witnessed how road improvements have helped developed our community. Our area used to be for workers and bachelors accommodation only but now it has become more accessible to families," Mahmoud said.
"The new bridge and road improvement will not only help me ease going to my office but also improve the over-all connectivity of Dubai and its other growth corridors," he added.

78% drop in road congestion

The project also covers the improvement of Al Qouz entrances as well as several development projects. The intersection of Al Asayel-Latifa Bint Hamdan Streets has been transformed from a surface signallised junction into a multi-level interchange.
The surface intersection will reduce the waiting time from three minutes to less than one minute, which will alleviate the congestion by 78 per cent during evening peak hours and enhance the capacity of the intersection by 40 per cent, according to the RTA.
The project also includes improvement of the intersection with Al Khail Road by adding a ramp to serve the traffic movement heading north to Al Khail Road and the Business Bay Crossing to ease the existing congestion at Al Khail Road intersection.

Project that links Jumeriah with Al Khail Road

The Dh800 million road project in Al Quoz covers Latifa Bint Hamdan Street and Umm Al Sheef Street from Al Safa Interchange (2^nd I/C) to Al Manara Interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road (3^rd I/C).
It will link Jumeirah with Al Khail Road and Parallel Roads (First Al Khail Road and Al Asayel Street) through two-level roads and bridges providing free traffic flow from Umm Al Sheef St. to Al Wasl St., Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR) and up to Latifa Bint Hamdan Street. Traffic will also flow freely from Al Zommorrud St. eastward to Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR).
The two bridges are linked with SZR through bridges offering free exits. The new bridges constructed above and underneath the route of the Dubai Metro Red Line did not have an impact on the operation of the Metro during the construction phase.
angel@khaleejtimes.com