29 Aug 2006
Dubai: The new 13-lane Al Garhoud Bridge will help drastically reduce traffic congestion, as it will handle 16,000 vehicles per hour, said a senior official.
The existing six-lane bridge accommodates less than 9,000 vehicles per hour leaving long traffic jams on Shaikh Rashid and Shaikh Zayed roads. Shaikh Zayed Road now has 10 lanes.
"The construction of the new bridge, which started in March this year, is on schedule as more than 13 per cent of the work has been completed," said Engineer Nabeel Mohammad Saleh, Director of Roads Department at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
He said the work on the Dh420 million bridge would be completed in 24 months and is scheduled to open to traffic in the first quarter of 2008.
"All the roads leading to the bridge will be upgraded and improved to ensure smooth flow of traffic crossing the creek," he said.
When the new bridge is completed, the present Al Garhoud Bridge will be dismantled.
Saleh said the number of lanes over the Creek will increase to 38 in 2007 and to 45 in 2008.
With the completion of the new Al Garhoud Bridge, one floating bridge and two planned bridges, the Creek will have seven crossings by 2009.
Currently, there are three crossings the Al Shind-agha Tunnel, Al Maktoum Bride and Al Garhoud Bridge with a total of 19 lanes.
A 12-lane Ras Al Khor Bridge, the fourth crossing, is under construction and will open in the first quarter of 2007.
TThe RTA last month announced a floating bridge on the Creek with six lanes.
Fact file: Existing crossings
Al Garhoud Bridge: 6 lanes
Al Maktoum Bridge: 9 lanes
Al Shindagha Tunnel: 4 lanes
Under construction
Ras Al Khor Bridge: 12 lanes
New Al Garhoud Bridge: 13 lanes
Planned crossings
Floating Bridge: 6 lanes
Al Shindagha Bridge: 12 lanes
The Fifth Bridge: 12 lanes
By Ashfaq Ahmed
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
