These new roads will reduce traffic on SZR near Business Bay by around 15%…

There’s a huge roadworks project happening around us in Dubai called the “Parallel Roads Improvement Project” (not a glamorous name, but it does what it says on the tin). This project is all about improving the roads around (and therefore the traffic on) Sheikh Zayed Road, which remains the main artery through an ever-expanding Dubai.

The bridges around Dubai Canal are a part of this project, and they’re complete, and the next phase involves adding more entry and exit points to Business Bay and Downtown (because, let’s be honest, getting onto Sheikh Zayed Road Abu-Dhabi-bound from Business Bay is currently quite convoluted).

They say, and this is huge, that once the project is complete, the journey time between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road (near Interchange 1 and 2) will be cut down from 12 minutes to 2 minutes.

It will also ease traffic on Financial Centre Road (where the traffic lights can be very congested) and help access to Meydan and Al Quoz.

Where are the bridges being built? Well, basically everywhere – there are a total of 5,665 metres of bridges being built and a total of 2,445 metres of underpasses.

When will it finish? It will be completed in many phases, but it should be all completely done by the end of next year.

Here’s a video from last year showing some of the

There are two phases to the project…

PHASE 1 IS…

This phase is 85% complete…

– The construction of a 3.5 km-long flyover over Dubai Water Canal

– Increasing the number of lanes of Meydan Road near Godolphin Stables up to Al Quoz to five lanes in each direction

– Creating flyovers at the existing junction of Meydan Road and Al Khail Road so that traffic can move in multiple directions at once.

– Creating a two-lane bridge to serve traffic moving from Al Khail Road in the direction of Sharjah and Al Asayel Road up to Oud Metha Road.

– Providing entry and exit points for the new projects coming to Meydan.

PHASE 2 IS…

– The roads between Al Meydan Road and the Financial Centre Road will be improved, with these roads (which run through Businss Bay) increasing from three to four lanes in each direction. Also, service roads will be built in both directions.

– A 240-metre-long flyover at the intersection of Al Saada Road and Burj Khalifa Boulevard.

– A 535-metre tunnel (we imagine with a neat mosaic mural) near the intersection of Al Saada Road and Business Bay.

– A 420-metre bridge at the intersection of Meydan and First Al Khail Roads and a 420-metre long tunnel to create a left turn from Al Saada Road to Al Meydan Road.

– And, now this is cool, a 340-metre underpass for horses crossing at Dubai Stables.

This image shows where one of the new bridges will be built (the yellow is where a bridge will go): this will particularly ease traffic along Al Meydan Street (which connects Al Quoz, Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road)…

rta-bridge

WHY NOW?

“The Parallel Roads Project is one of the vital projects currently undertaken by the RTA to ease the congestion on Sheikh Zayed Road,” explained H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority.

“This traffic corridor, which comprises 3 lanes in each direction, extends 108 kilometres from Sheikh Rashid Road in the north up to the entrance of Abu Dhabi. The project covers the construction of bridges and at-grade junctions at the intersections of parallel roads with the crossing roads extending 42 km. The entire project constitutes a traffic hub supporting the Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road, and upon completion of all phases, it would ease the traffic movement in the area parallel to the Sheikh Zayed Road to the East.”

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