Three new bridges and five more lanes were built as part of the three-phase mega development project to meet the growing demand.
Motorists travelling from Dubai to the Northern Emirates will have a smoother journey from today as the Ministry of Public Works will open the widened Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road section in the direction of Ajman via National Paints for traffic today. The lanes in the opposite direction will be opened within two weeks.
Zahra Al Abudi, Undersecretary of the ministry, said three new bridges and five more lanes were built as part of the three-phase mega development project to meet the growing demand.
With this, commuters can heave a sigh of relief as the traffic bottleneck witnessed around National Paints — a perennial issue for a long time — is expected to end.
“The Dh1 billion development of the road, considered one of the most critical in the land transport network in the country, is part of the outstanding development initiatives of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” she said.
The road, with five lanes in each direction, will allow 7,500 vehicles per hour to travel, which will significantly decrease traffic snarls for those travelling from Dubai to the emirates of Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah.
“The ministry has completed 97 per cent of the road development being implemented in line with the extensive studies done in collaboration with international expert houses,” Al Abudi said.
The project had three stages. Some intersections and parallel alternative roads were built in the first phase to ease traffic flow during the project implementation. Three lanes were opened in each direction in this phase itself even as the rainwater drainage works were being taken up.
In the second phase, five lanes and three main intersections — Al Dhaid, Students Hostel and Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed — were built, apart from completing the rainwater drainage.
The third phase started with work on the section from the Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Road to the Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road in Dubai. It included the addition of five more lanes and development of the fifth industrial square, that is the intersection with the Sharjah Ring Road, as well as some changes to the Hatta road in Dubai as well as rainwater drainage works.
The road, which was originally called Emirates Road, since its inception in 2001, has enhanced traffic flow, particularly between Dubai and other emirates. “It has given a boost to land transport, eased movement of heavy trucks, saved time, and curbed traffic congestion on internal roads of the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman,” she said.
Some 73km of the 140km-long road falls in Dubai while the highway starts from the Truck Road in Abu Dhabi, it passes through Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and ends in Ras Al Khaimah.
“The road, which has seen a persistent growth in traffic volume, has played a significant role in accelerating economic boom in the UAE. Therefore, it was necessary to develop its capacity with a series of mega projects on both sides.”
Al Abudi said the project is one of the most critical works undertaken by the ministry, which paid close attention to the safety and security benchmarks. “Traffic flow on the Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road was not affected during the project,” she added.
