Journey times slashed as RTA opens two bridges

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) opened two major bridges on Sunday as part of the Garn Al Sabkha-Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road Intersection Improvement Project.

The first is a 2-lane bridge, spanning 601 metres with a capacity of 3,200 vehicles per hour, serving the eastward traffic from Garn Al Sabkha Street to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, then northward towards Al Qusais and Deira.

The second is also a 2-lane bridge, spanning 664 metres, enabling traffic flow by eliminating the overlapping of traffic coming from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road heading southward towards Al Yalayis Street and Jebel Ali Port, designed to accommodate 3,200 vehicles per hour.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, RTA, said, “Upon completion, the project will cut the distance and journey time from Garn Al Sabkha Street to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road towards Al Qusais and Deira by 40 per cent, from 20 minutes to 12 minutes during peak hours. It will also reduce the journey time for motorists coming from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road heading rightward to Al Yalayis Street in the direction of Jebel Ali Port by 70 per cent, from 21 minutes to seven minutes.”

The project entails road works spanning seven kilometres including improvements to the surface intersections on the service road parallel to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, in addition to streetlights, traffic signals, traffic systems, stormwater drainage networks, and irrigation systems.