Dubai-Sharjah traffic to ease as completion of new project on key highway announced

Modifications include altering service road sidewalks and adding a 600 metre lane on the designated road

by

Sahim Salim

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Top Stories

File photo
File photo

Published: Mon 29 May 2023, 10:50 AM

Last updated: Tue 30 May 2023, 8:21 PM

Sharjah's Roads and Transport Authority (SRTA) has announced the completion of a traffic improvement project on Al Ittihad Road. This will boost capacity for Dubai to Sharjah commuters and ease traffic on the arterial road.

The authority has added an additional 600-metre lane, seamlessly connected to the Khulafa Al Rashideen Bridge. According to a video posted by the authority, an extra lane has been added to take the exit towards Al Khan.


Commuters have welcomed the completion of the project. Abbas Malik, a Sharjah resident, said the road extension near Safeer Mall has eased some pressure on traffic heading towards Al Majaz, Corniche and Rolla areas.

“There is always a severe bottleneck near the mall, but now the situation is comparatively better. It used to take 15 minutes just to clear the traffic congestion there, but now it takes just five. This has also made life easier for motorists heading towards industrial areas,” added Malik.


“This will also provide relief to motorists using the Ittihad Road and heading towards King Faisal Road and Ajman,” he added.

Reza Rouf, who takes the Dubai-Sharjah route for his daily office-home commute, said: “This lane addition is a relief as this is the exact spot where we commuters spend a lot of time in traffic. There are multiple entry points all leading to the same road. This lane addition will now help me take the exit with ease.”

The SRTA said the authority has implemented modifications to the service road pavements and included parking spaces. “These traffic improvement endeavours were undertaken to address the infrastructure requirements of road users,” the SRTA said in an Instagram post.

Al Ittihad Road is a key highway that connects Sharjah and Dubai. The highway sees traffic build up during peak hours.

In December 2019, the UAE’s Ministry of Infrastructure Development had announced a Dh230-million project to boost traffic flow on the road. As part of this project, the ministry had said it would develop Al Nahda and Khulafa Al Rashideen intersections; and increase the capacity of the road by 3,000 vehicles per hour in each direction.

ALSO READ:


More news from UAE