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Soon after hearing about the activation of two new Salik toll gates this month, Dubai motorists raised concerns about rising travel expenses. Many have started recalculating their budgets to take the extra costs into account.
The new Salik gates — Business Bay gate and Al Safa South gate — will start charging motorists on November 24. The first is located at the Business Bay Crossing on Al Khail Road while the other is on the Sheikh Zayed Road between Al Meydan Street and Umm Al Sheif Street. These bring the total number of Salik gates in the city to 10.
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Jordanian expat Mohammed AbuNael, a marketing executive, is among those who will have to go through their transport expenses again. He spends about Dh350 on Salik every month as he travels more than 80km every day.
“When I have enough time, I take the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road because there are no Salik gates. My usual routes are through Ittihad Road or the Airport Tunnel Road. Travelling via Ittihad Road, I pay about Dh12 for passing through three gates. Then, on Airport Tunnel Road, I pay Dh4 — sometimes more if I end up passing through Al Safa gate on the Sheikh Zayed Road.”
From Dh350, AbuNael's monthly Salik budget may now cross Dh500, he told Khaleej Times.
"I have to set aside about Dh150 to Dh200 more for the new Salik gates," he said.
Shorouq Saleem, a 37-year-old Syrian expat, said he was "quite unhappy", too.
"The Business Bay bridge is one that I use a lot to get onto Al Khail Road. I travel from the Al Twar area, taking the Airport Tunnel and then getting onto Business Bay,” said Saleem.
“So now, instead of taking one Salik, I have to take two. This is going to significantly increase my expenditure. I have been experimenting with alternative routes the last couple of weeks, but I am mindful that all of those will become even more crowded once the gates become operational,” he added.
Saeed Shah, a resident of Al Nahda in Sharjah, had also been trying to avoid the toll gates but he soon realised that this would come at a different cost.
“I have been experimenting with alternate routes, but I have noticed I am spending more on fuel by avoiding the Salik gates,” said Shah.
“I tried taking the Airport Tunnel toward Ras Al Khor, which leads to Meydan and then to Al Khail Road, reaching my office in Al Quoz. Another route I tried was from the Airport Tunnel to Mustaqbal Street, which connects to the first Al Khail Road without crossing the Business Bay Bridge. But these routes consume a lot of fuel because of the signals and traffic.”
As he adjusts his Salik budget, AbuNael hopes the change can make a difference and ease traffic on these busy roads.
“As the gates increase, hopefully, the traffic will divert to the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, so that congestions can be eased on the Airport Tunnel Road, which connects to Al Khail via the Business Bay Crossing," he said.
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