Dubai and Sharjah journey gets easier after new roads open

Motorists travelling between Emirates Road and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road will now spend nine minutes on the drive instead of 25

Motorists travelling between Emirates Road and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road will now spend nine minutes on the journey instead of 25. RTA

Dubai’s transport authority opened the Al Khawaneej Roads Improvement Project on Saturday, cutting journey times on some roads by more than 15 minutes.

Motorists travelling between Emirates Road and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road will now spend nine minutes on the journey, instead of 25.

The waiting time at the junction of Al Khawaneej road and Al Khawaneej roundabout has also been reduced, from 5.5 minutes to 45 seconds.

The project, which is intended to reduce congestion on some of the emirate's busiest roads, has also doubled capacity at the Al Khawaeej junction from 8,000 cars to 16,000 cars per hour.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general of the Roads and Transport Authority, said the improvement works will create better links between Dubai and Sharjah - a route with heavy traffic during peak hours.

“The Improvement of Al Khawaneej Roads Project is one of the key strategic projects for improving the links between Dubai and Sharjah through the improvement of vertical roads linking with the Emirates Road and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road up to the Airport Street,” he said.

“It also halves the waiting time at the intersection of Al Khawaneej and Al Amardi roads, which has been upgraded from a roundabout to a surface junction, from 120 seconds to 60 seconds.”

As part of the project, a tunnel was constructed, consisting of three lanes in each direction, that extended 680 metres at the intersection of Al Khawaneej road with Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan road.

Works also included the construction of a surface junction with singals to ensure free and safe traffic flow on Al Khawaneej road, and surface repair works on the existing roundabout at the intersection of Al Khawaneej and Al Amardi roads.

"The intersection of Al Amardi-Emirates Roads has also been upgraded to a flyover of two lanes in each direction extending 201 metres above the Emirates Road in the direction of Al Awir," Mr Al Tayer said.

A footbridge near Arabian Centre at Al Khawaneej road is under construction.

Service roads extending 23km along Al Khawaneej and Al Amardi roads are being upgraded, and three junctions at Algiers Street will be upgraded to signal junctions.

Other construction under way include streetlights, rainwater drainage system, directional signs, road markings, and protection works for road safety.