Dubai: Travel time between seventh interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road (SZR) and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road (SMBZR) in Dubai will be slashed to just four minutes as part of the benefit from two new road projects, officials announced on Monday.
The Dubai Media Office said His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has approved the awarding of two contracts — one for constructing the seventh interchange on SZR and the other expanding Al Yalayis and Al Asayel Roads — at a total cost of Dh1.2 billion.
The two projects will enhance the links between SZR and SMBZR, as well as Emirates Road. It will ease the traffic flow on SZR by diverting inbound traffic from Abu Dhabi on SZR to Al Yalayis Road and onto SMBZR and Emirates Road. It will also enhance business activity and the movement of goods from and to Jebel Ali Port.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of the RTA, said: “The project has been undertaken to implement the directives of [Shaikh Mohammad] to immediately start construction work on the road and transport projects recently endorsed by His Highness. Such projects are prompted by Dubai’s sustained development, and the need to meet the requirements of growth and urban development and bring happiness to people. These are also part of the road projects approved for easing mobility and accessibility to the site of Expo 2020.”
He added that the project will raise the capacity of Al Yalayis Road to almost 10,000 vehicles per hour, per direction.
Seventh interchange
The project to construct the seventh interchange on SZR will cost about Dh393 million, said Al Tayer. It encompasses the construction of a four-lane bridge branching out of Al Yalayis Road into two bridges of two lanes each. The first one will be bound for Abu Dhabi and the other one lead to Dubai Road and from there to Jebel Ali Free Zone and Port.
Al Yalayis and Al Asayel Roads
As part of the phases of the Parallel Roads Project, Al Yalayis Road is being constructed over six kilometres, extending from the seventh interchange of SZR to SMBZR at Al Houdh Interchange.
The RTA will also construct Al Asayel Road, which will extend five kilometres to link with JAFZA, Jumeirah Islands, and Emirates Hills. The total cost of the two roads is about Dh792 million.
The project includes increasing the number of lanes on Al Yalayis Road from three lanes in each direction to six lanes in each direction, with a total capacity of about 10,000 vehicles per hour.
The Etihad Rail Project has been taken into consideration in the project planning. The first flyover is at the junction between Al Yalayis Road and First Al Khail Road, and the second is at the junction between Al Yalayis Road and Al Asayel Road. Another flyover will be constructed to serve the inbound traffic from Al Asayel Road in the South to Al Yalayis Road in the East, along with the completion of the extension of Al Asayel Road over five kilometres (comprising three lanes in each direction to link JAFZA with Jumeirah Islands and Emirates Hills).
Al Houdh Interchange
The RTA recently completed the final phase of the Al Houdh Interchange Project between SMBZR and Al Yalayis Road at a cost of Dh228 million.
