Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has opened the initial phase of Latifa bint Hamdan Street and Umm Al Sheef Street, a key AED800 million ($218 million) highways project in the emirate.
Phase 2 of the project will be opened in the first quarter of 2019, the transport authority said in a statement.
The project links Jumeirah with Al Khail Road and Parallel Roads (First Al Khail Road, and Al Asayel Street) through a network of bridges extending 7.4km.
It will serve eight urban development projects by 2020, and 10 others by 2030. It will also serve four residential districts by 2020 and four others by 2030.
About 680,000 people will benefit from the project by 2020, rising to 1.2 million by 2030 while about 370,000 industrial workers will benefit from the project by 2020, rising to 724,000 by 2030, the RTA said.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the RTA, said the aim of the project is to enhance the roads network extending east-west and link them with the main roads such as Sheikh Zayed Road, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road.
It also aims to reduce the traffic density on Al Wasl Street by 10 percent in the sector between Al Manara and Al Hadeeqa Streets and will serve the new urban developments such as Dubai Hills, Meydan, Al Khail Gate and Dubailand.
The project features two-level bridges extending 7.4km, including a bridge crossing over Dubai Metro Red Line. The bridges will reduce the transit time on Latifa bint Hamdan Street between the Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road from 12 minutes to 4 minutes. It will also ease the movement of trucks from and to Al Qouz Industrial Area.