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Top up Salik, 2 new gates go operational tomorrow

With a day to go for the new Salik gates to open at Al Mamzar and the Airport Tunnel, commuters harbour mixed feelings about the government’s plan to ease traffic by increasing toll gates — expected to most impact Sharjah commuters to Dubai.

Starting tomorrow, the long traffic snarls on Dubai-Sharjah highway should become a thing of the past according to Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA), which is introducing Salik charges at two key locations on Ittihad Road and Airport Tunnel.

While some are supportive of any move to allow them to spend less time on the road, others are ruing the prospect of the extra cost and are dubious about whether the new gates — which charge Dh4 every time they are crossed — will reduce congestion.

Costly proposition

Salik is a costly proposition for 46-year-old Bangladeshi taxi driver Rashid Mohammad. He said every extra dirham spent when he had to foot the toll himself outside of work was a drop less from the savings he had come to Dubai four years ago to earn.

“I have three daughters to marry off,” he said, lamenting the perennial increase in rents and now this.

Despite commuter complaints, RTA says “exhaustive traffic and field studies of the first and second phases” have apparently proven that the existing four Salik gates have succeeded in slashing the trip time on Shaikh Zayed Road by as much as 44 per cent.

RTA board chairman and executive director Mattar Al Tayer had said earlier that congestion would ease on Al Ittihad Road as a result of the latest round of Al Mamzar toll gate, adding that “the RTA has spent around Dh1 billion in upgrading Al Ittihad Road through constructing a number of flyovers and additional tunnels.”

The Civil Aviation Authority in Dubai is also expanding the Dubai International Airport to facilitate the expected 110 million passengers a year by 2020.

Currently, traffic from Dubai to Sharjah during peak hours starts building up from 4.30pm, with the usual 30 minute journey running into several hours as roads narrow into Sharjah.

Alternate route

Regular commuters will have the option of avoiding toll gates by taking the alternate route to Sharjah through the Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road. Residents living in Sharjah and working in Dubai will be most likely affected by the introduction of toll gates, with an all-Salik journey from Sharjah to Dubai Media City expected to cost Dh12 with gates on Ittihad Road, Maktoum Bridge and Shaikh Zayed Road.

Each day, 260,000 vehicles use the Ittihad Road, accounting for nine per cent of the total traffic on Dubai roads. Despite a series of road projects, including flyovers and tunnels, traffic flow on the vital corridor has failed to improve. Currently, motorists in Dubai are exempt from Salik charges only on the Maktoum Bridge after 10pm as the alternative route on Floating bridge remains closed to motorists through the night. The new gates will remain operational round the clock and the toll charges will be deducted whenever a car passes under the toll gate.

Too much of it

Shavak Srivastava, Owner and Director of SQFT Consulting and daily commuter from Meadows to Oasis Centre where his office is, told the Khaleej Times: “I don’t avoid Salik as I would like to take the quickest route, but I think there’s too much of it now. And I’m not sure it’s working to reduce the traffic. I think there should be a lot more effort to improve the feeder bus system into the metro to get more people on to that.”

And the extra charges may have an unforeseen impact on the pizza-eating population. One delivery joint, 800Pizza has five retail centres across Dubai — in Al Barsha, Downtown, Marina, Motorcity and Ibn Batutta. Barinder Singh, an assistant fleet manager with the eatery says, all their branches are positioned at the best possible locations so they don’t have to incur the added expense of Salik. If a delivery man has to cross a toll booth while delivering a pizza, Dh4 is added to the customer’s bill.

news@khaleejtimes.com