Saturday, Jul 19, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: Residents in International City say that traffic in the development is becoming increasingly worse.
According to Nakheel, there are currently four entrances and exits to the International City development.
This hazard was highlighted by Gulf News and permanent bollards have now been installed, filtering traffic into one lane further back.
This issue was monitored by Gulf News reader A.N., who was so concerned about the safety of these roads that he sent in a schematic detailing the dangers.
There is an alternative entrance to International City, which filters from the petrol station slip-road. A.N. said: "There is a closed street next to the petrol station and it has been closed for a long time. It should be opened."
A Nakheel spokesperson previously said that the main entrance will be functional by the end of this year.
The previous tanker queue hazards highlighted by Gulf News seem to have subsided, and tankers now appear to be delivering loads during the night.
The third and fourth entrances can be found on Manama Street, by the Thailand, Indonesia and Greece clusters.
A dangerous U-turn that was frequently blocked by sewage tankers using this alternative entrance to the sewage treatment plant was recently closed. Drivers should use the signaled junction further down Manama Street.
The third entrance is used as the main exit from International City, although Gulf News has received complaints that this exit is congested and is often the cause of accidents.
"The traffic is awful, now it's taking me 20 minutes to exit International City. Before, it used to take me 25 minutes to get to work. Now, when I leave it takes 20 minutes to just get out, and a minimum 15 minutes to get to Emirates Road," he said.
The fourth entrance/exit by Thailand/Indonesia and the back of Greece cluster is generally free of traffic and hazards.
The buses were observed by Gulf News blocking one lane of a main connecting road by the Persia court, due to the short length of the layby.
"There are no flies or any smell anymore," one resident said. The developers later sent a press release saying that extension work on the sewage treatment plant is near completion.
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