Sheikh Mohammed has just approved ambitious new traffic plans. Here they are…

We’re lucky to live in a city that never stops evolving – and a new growth spurt has just been announced.

Dubai is set to get a significant amount of new and improved roads, bridges and canal stations as part of the RTA’s Traffic and Transportation Plan 2030.

The series of landmark projects has just been given the green light by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Here they are…

So what’s going to change in the city?

1. WALKABLE STREETS

The internal streets of 16 Dubai residential suburbs will be paved to give residents a better pedestrian experience. ‘Walkability’ is a key directive for the RTA’s 2030 plans. There will be a lot of green spaces added to Dubai’s residential streets too, and this part of the project will begin in the first quarter of next year, and be finished by 2021.

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2. NEW CREEK CROSSING

There will be a new bridge at the Shindagha Crossing point between Deira and Bur Dubai – this will replace the Shindagha Tunnel. The design of the bridge will be inspired by ‘infinity’.

bridge

3. MORE DEIRA ROADS

The roads around the whole area will be improved too. Construction will take place over three phases, and the first one is already complete. The second phase will connect the crossing to Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Road (near Abu Hail Road) and the third phase will overhaul the intersection of Abu Hail Road with Cairo Road and Al Rasheed Road and also includes Al Mamzar Bridge and Abu Hail bridge.

The project also includes a bridge to Deira Islands (the major new manmade island project by Nakheel).

You can read more about phase one of that project (and the affect it’s having on traffic today) here.

4. JBR BRIDGE

There will be a 120-metre-long pedestrian bridge built by early 2017 that will connect Al Sufouh Road with Western Street in the JBR area.

5. SHORTER DRIVE TIME TO THE AIRPORT 

The RTA will also expand Dubai Airport Road with bridges and tunnels – this will increase the capacity of the road by about 5,000 vehicles per hour. It will also reduce the time it takes to travel from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road to Casablanca Street from 30 minutes to five minutes.

6. BICYCLE BRIDGES NEAR QUDRA

There’s also a project called Jewel of the Creek that involves the construction of a pedestrian bridge on Baniyas Road and on the intersection between Jebel Ali Lehbab (E77) and Qudra Streets near Al Qudra cycle track (where they will also build a flyover bridge for bicycles).

7. WATER STATIONS 

Remember how Business Bay is getting completely overhauled as part of the Dubai Canal project? Well yesterday they announced what the marine stations at Business Bay will look like, with Sheikh Mohammed choosing these designs…

rta-water-station

Here’s what it will look like from above…

rta-marine-2

Sheikh Mohammed chose the design because it “matches local architecture in the region and has “tinted shades to serve tourists, visitors and users of public transportation.” By 2030 there will be 30 marine stations in Dubai.

8. SPECIAL METRO BUSES

The Metro link buses will soon also have their own look to make it clear that they are specifically meant to serve the metro.

metro-dubai

9. BIGGER METRO STATIONS

Public transport capacity will be boosted overall as part of the project. The Burj Khalifa Dubai Metro station will be expanded so that it can easily accommodate 180,000 passengers a day. 

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Images: Supplied/Dubai Media Office/SheikhMohammed.ae