Driving out of Abu Dhabi city towards the airport and Northern Emirates is agonising. The once neat road network has become a confusing jungle of dug roads and many drivers heading north find themselves driving back towards the capital.
Random construction work has spread heavily to the northern outskirts of Abu Dhabi, causing daily traffic congestions, disrupting roads leading to the airport and other key locations, and sending motorists guessing which way they should take.
Most key streets have been reduced to one or two lanes while other roads have been dug, deformed and diverted to add to the confusion of drivers trying to flee road mess.
Hundreds of red-and-white plastic cones have been placed in the middle of the roads to alert drivers of the construction work and diversions.
During peak hours, the huge column of cars stretching for more than one kilometre could for a while be mistaken for a motor strike. Police look helpless because they themselves are sometimes caught in the middle of the column.
"What we have here is a real problem. I don't know when they will finish it," said Sami Qutaish, an employee at a company based just outside Abu Dhabi city.
"It is confusing and dangerous and the traffic is like hell every day. I need at least half an hour to reach work which took only 10 minutes earlier."
Murour road cuts across Abu Dhabi city towards the Traffic Police Department, Musaffah industrial area and the grand mosque under construction just before Al Maqtaa flyover, which leads to the international airport and to Northern Emirates.
Traffic police sources said at least 20,000 cars used to take this road in both directions every day before construction work forced many drivers to switch to the old Airport Road and to the eastern ring road which both run parallel to the road.
Just before the mosque, the entire road network has been disrupted by massive construction and detours while the only road leading directly to the airport has also been dug and diverted to the left side.
Extension of construction work to that area means that only a handful of roads inside and outside the city have been left intact and are waiting for their turn.
Abu Dhabi's road construction work is part of a long-term development plan involving expansion and updating the road network, building new residential areas, development of services and other infrastructure projects.
A small traffic accident on the Airport Road last week underscored the problem, as it left thousands of cars stranded for more than an hour.
"I know that they are developing and expanding the roads but work is proceeding very slowly and we have started to suffer every day," said Ayman Ayyash, a bank employee. "I think they could do better than this because they can be more organised."
Price of development* Driving in some of the construction-hit Abu Dhabi roads has become tough task as massive concrete blocks are placed haphazardly in the middle and on the edge of the road.
* Asphalt on parts of some roads has been completely peeled off.
* The new Airport Road, now called Murour Road, is the main victim of the rapidly spreading construction work.
* The Abu Dhabi Municipality, which is carrying out the road projects, is coordinating with the Traffic Police.
* The civic body acknowledges that work is slow.
Gulf News
