Dubai building seven new footbridges in road safety push

Roads and Transport Authority wants to reduce number of accidents involving pedestrians

The number of footbridges on Dubai's road network increased from 13 in 2006 to 129 by the end of last year. Photo: Roads and Transport Authority

Dubai will open seven new footbridges as part of a major effort to make the emirate a global leader in traffic safety.

The emirate's Roads and Transport Authority said efforts to increase the number of footbridges across the city aimed to reduce pedestrian fatalities and make it more bike friendly.

One of the seven bridges has already been built, connecting Al Khaleej Street between the junction of Omar Bin Khattab Street and Abu Bakr Al Siddique Street, near Dubai Hospital.

The bridge – which is about 120 metres long and 4.4 metres wide – has two elevators, stairs and a room for systems like alarms, for fire fighting and for remote monitoring.

Six more bridges are under construction, which will include dedicated bike tracks and racks.

They include one on Al Mina Street – between Al Saqr and Al Mina intersections – and another serving Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Street, between Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street and Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Street.

Another bridge will link Creek Harbour and Ras Al Khor Industrial Area, with a fourth bridge on Ras Al Khor Road, directly across from Marhaba Mall and Wasl Complex in Nadd Al Hamar.

Two more bridges will be built in Al Quoz Creative Zone and on Al Khawaneej Street, opposite the Arabian Centre.

“The construction of footbridges is consistent with Dubai's traffic safety strategy, which aims to make the city the safest in the world in terms of traffic safety,” said Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the authority.

The aim is to reduce the number of deaths from people being run over to zero, Mr Al Tayer added.

The number of footbridges on Dubai's road network increased from 13 in 2006 to 129 by the end of 2022, with this figure to rise to 165 in the next three years.

Safety message

Mr Al Tayer urged members of the public to make use of pedestrian bridges when walking in the city.

He also called on drivers to abide by speed limits at pedestrian crossings to ensure the safety of fellow road users.

The authority said it considered factors such as numbers of accidents involving pedestrians, traffic levels and proximity of other footbridges and other public transport stations when deciding where to build the new bridges.