Sheikh Zayed Road diversions: Daily Dubai commute changes

A new eight-lane road is in its final stages of construction, as Sheikh Zayed Road diversions commence from October 25, according to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

A diverted six-lane highway between Business Bay Metro bridge (next to Al Mazaya Centre) and the second interchange will open to traffic from Saturday morning, confirmed Hussain Al Banna, Director of Traffic at RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency.

Meanwhile, a seventh lane will serve as the hard shoulder and the last lane will function as a service road for internal traffic in Al Safa area.

In an interview with Emirates 24|7, Al Banna said: “The free right turn to Al Hadiqa Street will be temporarily shut from Friday to Saturday, which will reopen as the new highway is set up for traffic on Saturday morning.

“The entire diversion process should not take more than 10 minutes. Meanwhile, all the exits towards Al Wasl Road will function as normal.”

Of the six lanes that will be open to free flowing traffic, five will connect to the main highway, while the sixth lane will serve as an exit to Al Wasl Road.

Al Banna reiterated that he expects the transition to be smooth flowing, with no bottlenecks anticipated in the area.

Final groundwork

Workers in the area are working against the clock to meet the October 25 deadline, with the new highway almost ready for traffic.

One of the site managers told this website: “We have a small stretch of the road that still need to be laid, which will be the turn off from the existing Sheikh Zayed Road to this new highway.

“The lane markings, along with service road for the internal traffic, are also to be completed, which is currently being levelled; all of this should be done by Friday.”

The service road will connect the highway and divert traffic into the internal Al Safa area, with all existing road diversions to be removed when the highway opens.

Road barriers will be placed to separate the hard shoulder from the service lane; street lights are also being erected that will light up the new highway, with approximately 10-12 poles being installed by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), which will also be readied for Saturday, according to workers on site.

The Dh2 billion Dubai Canal project will result in Sheikh Zayed Road eventually being elevated by a bridge to allow the extension of Dubai Canal to cross its way to the Arabian Gulf, while cutting across Meydan, and resulting in 12 lanes of one of the busiest roads of the emirate to be temporarily shifted.

Maitha bin Udai, CEO of the Traffic and Roads Agency (TRA) at the RTA, said in an earlier statement: “Abu Dhabi-bound traffic stream will be routed to the new traffic diversion, while maintaining the traffic movement outbound from the capital by diverting cars to the lanes currently directed in the direction of Abu Dhabi.”

Parallel to this, the RTA will start construction works on the northern bridge in the direction of Dubai near the Metro line.

The project will extend Dubai Creek from Business Bay across Sheikh Zayed Road, through Safa Park and across the two main arteries in Jumeirah to reach the Arabian Gulf.

Construction on the Dubai Water Canal Project has been split across three phases.

The first includes the construction of bridges across the canal on Sheikh Zayed Road, comprising eight lanes in each direction. The bridges will rise eight metres to allow free navigation of water transport vehicles in the canal.

The second phase will see the construction of bridges across the canal, across three lanes on Jumeirah Beach Road and two lanes on Al Wasl Road in each direction.

Additionally, a flyover from Al Wasl Road, linking Al Hadiqa Road in the direction of Sheikh Zayed Road will also take form.

The third and final phase will see the actual construction of the 3.2 km-long canal, with the inclusion of a beach, a marina for boats and the water bus, along with three pedestrian bridges above the canal to link the Jumeirah Beach Walk with Safa Park Walk.

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