New Dubai-Sharjah road to ease congestion

Commuters between Dubai and Sharjah are due for some much needed relief next year as a delayed access road is completed that will double the existing capacity for vehicles.

The Dhs200m ($54.4m) Dubai-Sharjah access on Emirates Road will be ready by August next year, transport officials told local media. The new interchange was originally due to open this month.

It will include a three-lane exit on Emirate Road to Sharjah, widened exits to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah and additional lanes towards Dubai from Sharjah on Maleiha Road.

Ahmad Al Hammadi, director of the road department at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, told Gulf News work on the project was 60 per cent complete.

It will increase capacity on the interchange between Emirates Road and Maleiha Road from 9,000 vehicles to 17,700 an hour, he said.

Currently Emirates road and the other major roads connecting Dubai and Sharjah – Ittihad Road, Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, Airport Tunnel/Beirut Street – see major traffic jams during commuter hours as the large numbers of people living and working in the neighbouring emirates return home.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority is currently building the 12km Tripoli Road extension connecting Mohammed Bin Zayed Road with Emirates Road that should see more traffic diverted to the new interchange.

The new project has an intake of about 12,000 vehicles per hour in both directions (6,000 vehicles per hour per direction) and is set to ease the traffic flow on the two corridors by 30 per cent.

Read: Sheikh Mohammed approves new road improvement project to ease Dubai-Sharjah traffic