Dubai: New tunnel, road upgrades to cut drive time by over 60% for commuters
A road project aimed at easing congestion and reducing travel time between Al Khail Road and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road is nearing completion. The Umm Suqeim Street Improvement Project, which is being developed at a cost of Dh332 million, is now more than 70 per cent complete and includes an 800-metre tunnel with four lanes in each direction.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), conducted a site tour to inspect progress on the project which is part of a master development plan for Umm Suqeim Al Qudra corridor. Spanning 16km in total, the corridor runs from Jumeirah Street to Emirates Road.
'The project complements RTA's efforts to improve connectivity between four major arterial roads in Dubai: Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, and Emirates Road,' he said.
"It is designed to increase the corridor's capacity to 16,000 vehicles per hour in both directions, improve traffic flow, and reduce travel time between Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road and Al Khail Road by 61 per cent from 9.7 minutes to just 3.8 minutes."
The project
Once complete, it will serve several major residential and development zones, including Al Barsha South 1, 2, and 3, Dubai Hills, Arjan, and Dubai Science Park, with a total population exceeding one million residents.
The project, which spans 4.6 km from the intersection with Al Khail Road to the intersection with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, includes the development of Umm Suqeim–Al Barsha South intersection, near Kings' School. This will feature the construction of an 800-metre tunnel with four lanes in each direction along Umm Suqeim Street, in addition to a an intersection with traffic signals.
Previously, in 2013, RTA completed Phase I of the project, which covered the section between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road and included the construction of two bridges, each featuring three lanes in both directions.
Then, in 2020, as part of the bridges and roads development project for Dubai Hills Mall, RTA opened a main bridge along Umm Suqeim Street at the intersection with the entrance to Dubai Hills and Al Barsha South. The 500-metre bridge has four lanes in each direction and a capacity of 16,000 vehicles per hour in both directions.
Smart technology
Smart technologies will be used across the emirate to monitor road projects. Drones are being utilised to capture and analyse project progress data, with artificial intelligence employed to track construction milestones and performance indicators.
This has improved operational efficiency on-site, made decision-making processes faster, and enabled the provision of real-time, high-precision data. The adoption of these technologies has also resulted in 100 percent increase in field presence and 60 percent reduction in the time required for site surveys. Time-lapse imaging systems are also being used to continuously monitor construction activities, contributing to 40 percent improvement in overall project monitoring efficiency.
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