Dubai: The busy Umm Ammara Street exit leading to Shaikh Zayed Road near the Business Bay Metro station has turned into a bottleneck once again, following the closure of another exit from the area.
The secondary exit to Shaikh Zayed Road in Al Wasl area, heading from Emarat Atrium, which was being used by hundreds of motorists, has now been closed due to ongoing Dubai Canal works.
The closure has led to huge tailbacks, with traffic from the entire area heading from all directions to a single exit.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) had last year added a lane to the exit in an attempt to ease traffic in the area, but the move doesn’t seem to have had much impact, especially after the closure of the secondary exit.
The Dubai Canal project has had an adverse impact on the traffic in Al Safa and Al Wasl areas, with detours making way for the canal work.
“We are back to square one, facing the same situation that we used to have a few months ago. The secondary exit from Emarat Atrium played an important role in easing the traffic on Umm Ammara Street. Now everybody is forced to converge at a single exit,” said Mohammad, an Emirati resident of Al Wasl area.
He said the only alternative is taking Al Wasl Road, which is worse.
“[Construction] work has also badly affected traffic on Al Wasl Road, so using that is also not an option. We are left with the only option of taking the Umm Ammara exit,” added Mohammad.
Another resident said the afternoons are particularly vexing because school buses are on the road and people step out of office for a quick lunch.
“This is a mixed-use community and that is the reason the exit is busy throughout the day. As residents, there is no time of day when can have easy access or entry,” said another Emirati resident on condition of anonymity.
The canal project has been under way since September 2013, and work is in progress on all three phases simultaneously.
The project is scheduled to be ready by September 2016, complete with bridges on Shaikh Zayed Road, Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Road.
