Latest news with #roadupgrade
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Dubai: Umm Suqeim street to hold 16,000 vehicles per hour, get new walkways
A project that will increase Umm Suqeim Street's capacity to 16,000 vehicles per hour, and reduce travel time between Jumeirah Street and Al Khail Road from 20 minutes to just six, was announced by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) on Saturday. The upgrade of Umm Suqeim Street from its intersection with Jumeirah Street to Al Khail Road is part of the master plan to develop Jumeirah, Al Safa, and Al Wasl streets. 'The project enhances connectivity across four strategic transport corridors in Dubai — Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, and Emirates Road,' said Mattar Al Tayer, RTA Director-General and Chairman of the board of executive directors. 'The upgraded corridor will directly serve vital residential and development areas, including Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim, Al Manara, Al Sufouh, Umm Al Sheif, Al Barsha, and Al Quoz; home to more than two million residents,' he assured. The key features of the road project will also include pedestrian walkways, dedicated cycling tracks, boulevards, and vibrant urban spaces. The road project will include the upgrade of six key intersections along Umm Suqeim Street, including those connected with Jumeirah Street, Al Wasl Street, Sheikh Zayed Road, First Al Khail Street, Al Asayel Street, and Al Khail Road. A total of four bridges and three tunnels will be constructed with a total combined length of 4,100 metres. At the intersection with Jumeirah Street, a tunnel with two lanes in each direction will be constructed, complemented by a signalised surface-level junction. A second tunnel, comprising two lanes, will be constructed at the intersection with Al Wasl Street to facilitate traffic flow from Sheikh Zayed Road towards Jumeirah Street, while maintaining uninterrupted surface traffic in the direction of Sheikh Zayed Road. At its intersection with Sheikh Zayed Road, two bridges will be constructed to eliminate traffic overlap and enhance movement efficiency. A tunnel will also be developed at the intersection with First Al Khail Street to accommodate traffic coming from Al Barsha towards Sheikh Zayed Road, along with associated surface-level improvements.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
A465 Heads of the Valleys road to fully reopen after 23 years
It's been called the "road from hell" but after 23 years of roadworks and congestion, one of the UK's most expensive and complex road upgrade projects has finally fully last traffic cone and contraflow was removed from the A465 Heads of the Valleys road in south Wales on Friday night after a £2bn upgrade that started back in 28-mile (45km) improvement is designed to bring prosperity to one of the UK's most deprived areas and cut journey times between west Wales and the ministers have said the upgrade will boost the region but opponents have criticised how long it has taken and the "extortionate" price tag. Margaret Thatcher's Conservative UK government initially drew up the upgrade programme in 1990 because of frequent tailbacks and serious crashes on parts of the to turn the road into a full dual carriageway began when Tony Blair was prime minister in after enormous overspends, major delays, a global pandemic and hundreds of carriageway closures, drivers can travel direct between Swansea and Monmouthshire without passing through roadworks for the first time in 23 years. Why were there roadworks on the Heads of the Valleys? The A465 crosses the south Wales coalfields, a national park and in some parts, twists close to people's 70 structures - including more than 40 new bridges and a dozen new junctions - have been built as part of the upgrade. Workers have planted 285,000 trees to mitigate its significant environmental impact - offsetting more than seven million kilograms of CO2 a year - in a country which declared a climate emergency six years including bats, dormice and great crested newts have also been moved."In 50 years' time, experts will look back and say the single biggest thing the Welsh government has done to raise the prospects of Heads of the Valleys communities is building this road," Wales' Transport Secretary Ken Skates previously said."This is about generating jobs, prosperity, opportunities and better connecting and benefiting communities across the region." How much will the Heads of the Valleys roadworks cost? The Heads of the Valleys upgrade had been split into six sections - done from the most to least dangerous for final stages cost £590m to physically build the road but because of the way the project is funded, it will cost £1.4bn - and the Welsh government has not yet paid a final stretch between Dowlais Top in Merthyr Tydfil to Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf is being financed using something called the Mutual Investment Model (MIM) - which is a bit like getting a car on of paying it off in one lump sum, the Welsh government will pay more than £40m a year for 30 years in return for an 11-mile stretch of road that will be maintained by a private firm until it is brought back into public ownership in Cymru has called this way of funding a "waste of public money" and said private firms would "cream off" a "substantial amount of profit". The Welsh Conservatives have said the cost and delays "epitomises Labour's 25 years of failure in Wales" and added the final "gargantuan" cost would have almost covered the scrapped M4 relief road around Newport - where there is about four times more daily Welsh government said without borrowing cash the way it has, it would not have been able to finish the final is because the UK left the European Union in the middle of the entire scheme, meaning access to money that had helped on previous sections was no longer entire cost of the whole 23-year, 28-mile scheme will be about £2bn when everything is Labour Welsh government said it had learned lessons from the project, changing construction contracts and reviewing indicators of contractor performance. 'It was worth it' According to taxi driver Michael Gate from Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, it was a "nightmare" travelling between Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil when the roadworks were taking place. "It was really dangerous because it was one lane over there and one lane back," said the 63-year-old who has owned his taxi company since 2005. He added: "Now it's fantastic, it's got to be the best road in Wales. It's money well spent."Meanwhile, Claire Urch, 50, said the work had made journeys shorter but the constantly changing road lay-outs were "very difficult" for her daughter while learning to drive. "I've seen cars driving thinking it's a one-way street because they haven't had any signposting there and it's almost caused an accident on at least two occasions that I've been on there," Ms Urch said, speaking about one diversion by Aberdare. Nikki Webb, 49, lives in Hirwaun which she said had been "stuck right in the middle of it all".She said the work caused "chaos all the time" with lorries coming into the village but felt the "hassle was definitely worth it".Ms Webb added: "You can get to Merthyr so much quicker, I don't find there's traffic like there used to be."Mike Moore, who works as an operation manager for a traffic management company, said dualing the road "only made sense" from a safety point of view. "It's been five years of probably frustration for the public but in reality it pays dividends in the long run," he said. "These things have got to be built."It has come a long way from the start of this year when one affected man from Merthyr Tydfil described the Heads of the Valleys as "like the road from hell". He added: "Not even Chris Rea (singer) would dare come here." "As a whole, the Heads of the Valleys project is one of the UK's biggest road upgrade projects for many years," said Keith Jones of the Institution of Civil Engineers."And what's been so challenging is keeping the existing road operational while the work has gone on in some challenging and bleak terrain." Analysis By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editorSo Wales DOES build roads after all - albeit expensive ones that take a long time to scheme to upgrade the Heads of the Valleys road predates a Welsh government decision to scrap all new major road projects on environmental grounds back in a change of transport secretary from Lee Waters to Ken Skates last year means similar schemes could now happen in the future, if they reflected the climate emergency and were at the forefront of design. Welsh Labour has realised that some of its transport policies including the 20mph speed limit have been economic potential for the road was not lost on one Labour MS who commissioned a report by a think tank into it back in 2021. And with a Senedd election next year, expect Labour to signal the scheme's completion for all they're worth as it loops its way through many of the party's traditional south Wales heartlands.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renewed calls to bring back shelved road dualling
The government has been urged to restore plans to dual the A66 road which runs across northern England. Mike Starkie, the former Conservative Mayor of Copeland, in Cumbria, said the upgrade was needed to "support growth." The project was put on hold indefinitely by the government in 2024 citing a "black hole" in public finances, but many want the chancellor to commit to the project as soon as possible in the spending review in June. Labour North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith said "we know the money wasn't there in the first place" for major schemes promised by the previous government. The road is a key artery running east and west between Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire and Workington in Cumbria. Before the 2024 general election, the Conservative government was moving ahead with plans for sections between the A1(M) and Penrith, but Labour swiftly put the project on hold alongside a number of others. Explaining the decision, Skaith told BBC Politics North: "The government did inherit a terrible financial situation. "We have lots of conversations with local leaders and MPs in North Yorkshire about such projects. "We've invested heavily into our rural transport network and we're looking at active travel provision as well, and working with the rail operators to improve that connectivity as that's what I have power over." However, Starkie accused Labour of unfairly leaving road users behind. He said: "What we're seeing is a clear demonstration of this government's misguided priorities. "They can find £84bn to surrender the Chagos Islands, but then we've got infrastructure in our country that, to support growth, needs updating." "The projects that have actually got through the planning process - like the A66 - are getting shelved after already clearing the hurdles." BBC Politics North airs Sundays on BBC One at 10:00. Watch now on the BBC Iplayer. Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram. Plea to dual road after 'chilling' deaths A66 dualling finally gets government approval A66 dualling legal challenge fails Department for Transport
BBC News
18-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Renewed calls from Cumbrian politician for A66 dualling
The government has been urged to restore plans to dual the A66 road which runs across northern Starkie, the former Conservative Mayor of Copeland, in Cumbria, said the upgrade was needed to "support growth." The project was put on hold indefinitely by the government in 2024 citing a "black hole" in public finances, but many want the chancellor to commit to the project as soon as possible in the spending review in June. Labour North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith said "we know the money wasn't there in the first place" for major schemes promised by the previous government. The road is a key artery running east and west between Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire and Workington in Cumbria. Before the 2024 general election, the Conservative government was moving ahead with plans for sections between the A1(M) and Penrith, but Labour swiftly put the project on hold alongside a number of others. Explaining the decision, Skaith told BBC Politics North: "The government did inherit a terrible financial situation."We have lots of conversations with local leaders and MPs in North Yorkshire about such projects."We've invested heavily into our rural transport network and we're looking at active travel provision as well, and working with the rail operators to improve that connectivity as that's what I have power over." However, Starkie accused Labour of unfairly leaving road users behind. He said: "What we're seeing is a clear demonstration of this government's misguided priorities."They can find £84bn to surrender the Chagos Islands, but then we've got infrastructure in our country that, to support growth, needs updating." "The projects that have actually got through the planning process - like the A66 - are getting shelved after already clearing the hurdles." BBC Politics North airs Sundays on BBC One at 10:00. Watch now on the BBC Iplayer. Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
