Dubai Mall is expanding and is planning to host 100 million people a year in the near future – here’s one of the plans to help ease the traffic surrounding it.

A Dhs120 million bridge has been announced that will be built by early next year and will run over Al Khail Road and ease traffic on Financial Centre Road. It will also include a direct entry point to the expansion of Dubai Mall’s parking.

The bridge will run over 920 metres in length and will begin near Ras Al Khor Road and Al Khail Road, swooping past Dubai Design District. The existing road leading up to the bridge will be widened by two lanes to help the traffic flow onto the new bridge.

*MORE: Another new RTA road announced near Beach Road*

It will run over the new Dubai Canal, as seen here – the coloured lines represent the new roads planned and the light blue waterway is the Dubai Canal:

rta-bridge

“The project will improve the traffic flow along the Financial Centre Road and at grade intersections by reducing the density of traffic at junctions leading to Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard,” said Mattar Al Tayer, the Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA.

“The project will result in raising the road intake to 4,500 vehicles per hour during peak hours, besides serving several development projects, and easing the pressure on the existing roads network,” he added.

The project is a collaboration between the RTA and Emaar, and is in anticipation of the huge expansion happening to Dubai Mall – with 75,000 square metres of retail space and 25,000 square metres of parking area being added to the shopping centre (there is currently around 300,000 square metres of retail space, so the expansion means nearly a third more shopping).

They hope to accomodate 100 million visitors per year soon, and this bridge is part of the plan to help that happen.

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