Al Ain: Traffic is expected to be a lot smoother in the city’s private schools district as work on the roads improvement project nears completion on Khalid Bin Sultan Street.
The schools are set to open next month for the 2014-2015 academic year. The area has recently witnessed traffic diversions and closure of the road to replace a number of roundabouts with signal controlled interchanges to streamline the traffic flow.
“Work is under way to complete the project as soon as possible,” said Major Muslim Al Junaibi, Acting Head of the Traffic Engineering and Road Safety Department of Abu Dhabi Police. He said the Traffic and Patrols Directorate has recently inspected the project where work is proceeding as per schedule.
The private schools’ zone, with some 95 per cent of the city’s schools in one area, had been facing traffic problems for several years. Many of the private schools had to build purpose-built buildings for moving into the area that later became a driver’s nightmare with frequent accidents and chaotic traffic jams. The streets were usually choked with buses, mini-vans, private cars, and taxis in the morning and afternoon with vehicles dropping and picking up pupils at peak hours.
Captain Engineer Ebrahim Khalfan Al Shamsi, Head of Traffic Engineering Branch in Al Ain, said a dedicated lane for school busses has also been planned to streamline the traffic flow in the city’s private school districts. The lane will be controlled through an electronic gate to restrict unauthorised traffic. The schools have hundreds of small and big buses to transport pupils.
Al Ain Municipality had announced a Dh119 million project in July last year to improve roads, including converting roundabouts into interchanges, expansion of internal roads and installation of traffic signals. The project is a part of the municipality’s strategic planning and is expected to be complete in the third quarter of this year, according to Saleh Al Aryani, director of the traffic improvement project at the municipality.
Major Al Shamsi said the Ministry of Interior has also been executing a project to link the three main traffic light signals at Al Amouria, Al Qasr and Al Murur interchanges that are located at the entrance of the schools area. Once operational, the signals will help ease the congestion by maintaining a proper flow of traffic.
He said the traffic lights were set to replace the Al Murur and Al Choueifat roundabouts where a number of surveillance cameras would also be installed. All traffic safety precautions will be inspected before the official opening of the area, he added.
As per the planning, the Choueifat School Roundabout has been converted into a signal-regulated interchange along with an enhanced parking facility with a capacity for 880 cars with efficient entry and exit for private cars.
