Soon, less congestion on Dubai's International City roads

Dubai - New, upgraded road projects will also decongest traffic in the community area

The regular traffic snarls in and around International City and Dragon Mart are set to ease up soon, with new and upgraded road projects increasing vehicle capacity and flow in the area. Improved intersections, new flyovers, slipways, more lanes and signal junctions will also service the community area which has always faced congestion issues.
In specific, the project will improve Al Manama street and upgrade the efficiency of its intersections namely Al Manama Street-Nouakchott Street, Al Manama Street-Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, and Al Manama Street-414 Street (main entrance of International City).
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced the 'Improvement of Al Awir Road, Entrance of the International City Project (Phase II)' project, costing around Dh193 million. The project is in collaboration with Nakheel - International City's developer - and comes after a traffic imapcts study was conducted for the area, especially after the new Dragon Mart 2 opened.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the RTA's Board of Executive Directors, said: "Construction works in upgrading the Al Manama Street-Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road intersection include widening the flyover passing over Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road from three to four lanes in each direction; which increases the capacity of the bridge from 4,500 vehicles per hour to 6,000 vehicles per hour. It also covers increasing the number of lanes of slipways extending from Ras Al Khor Road to Sharjah, and from International City to Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi, from one lane to two lanes. This increase will double the capacity of these lanes from 800 vehicles per hour to 1600 vehicles per hour," explained Al Tayer.
"Works also include widening Al Manama Street in the area between Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road and the entrance of the International City from three to six lanes in each direction. This improvement will increase the intake of the road by 1,500 vehicles per hour per lane. Al Manama Street will also be widened in the sector from the entrance of the International City to the Academic City Street from two to five lanes in each direction. The widening will enhance the capacity of this street from 3,000 vehicles to 7,500 vehicles per hour.
The earlier, Phase I of the project - started in 2016 - was the 'Al Awir Road and Entrance of the International City Improvement Project', which is 75 per cent complete and is set to open in 2018's first quarter. It covers improvement works of Al Awir Road starting from the intersection of the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road to the Academic City roundabout.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com
REVAMPED ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL CITY (IC)
Intersections involved in Phase II
. Al Manama Street-Nouakchott Street
. Al Manama Street-Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (SMBZ)
. Al Manama Street-414 Street (main entrance of IC)
What it means for motorists
. 1 more lane on flyover passing over SMBZ - vehicle capacity goes up to 6,000 per hour from current 4,000
. More slipways from Ras Al Khor to Sharjah & IC to Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi - vehicle capacity goes up to 1,600 per hour, from current 800
. Widening of Al Manama st before IC entrance - road intake increases to 1,500 vehicles per hour per lane
. Widening of Al Manama st from IC to Academic City st - road intake increases to 7,500 vehicles per hour per lane, from current 3,000
. IC entrance-Al Manama intersection to become a surface signal junction - increases capacity to 4,500 vehicles per hour
. Signal junction between Al Manama st and Al Awir road, enabling traffic in all directions
. 2-lane flyover from Nouakchott st to IC st - increases capacity to 3,000 vehicles per hour
Phase I improvements (to open Q1 2018)
. Upgrading from intersection of SMBZ to Academic City roundabout
. 2-lane flyover free intersection for traffic from Nouakchott st to Al Awir rd
. Turns for Al Awir to SMBZ
. New Al Awir service roads, to separate traffic from IC, Dragon Mart and Al Warqaa
. Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists between Al Warqaa and IC to Dragon Mart, Fruit & Vegetable Market
. IC roundabouts converting to signal junctions

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• Dubai