About 30 per cent of the work on the Dh404 million ($110 million) Airport Street Interchanges Improvement Project in Dubai has been completed, said a senior official.
This project is part of a plan set by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for accommodating the projected growth in the number of passengers using the Dubai International Airport which is expected to shoot to 92 million passengers by 2020, remarked Mattar Al Tayer, its director general and chairman.
Work is progressing well on the first contract for the improvement of Airport Street involves the construction of Rashidiya and Casablanca interchanges, remarked Al Tayer.
He was speaking after inspecting the work on the Airport Street Interchanges Improvement Project. Maitha bin Adai, CEO of Traffic & Roads Agency, Nabeel Mohammed Saleh, the director of Roads as well as several officials nd at RTA accompanied him.
"RTA has charted out a comprehensive plan for traffic diversions to ensure a smooth traffic flow. It has diverted traffic in both directions of Rashidiya Street, and work is currently progressing in bridge works and the shifting of the existing utility lines," remarked Al Tayer.
The work area has been fully separated by a high barrier to muffle the noise as much as possible from disturbing road users and residents of nearby areas, he added.
Working is on to complete the bridges at the intersections of Nad Al Hamar, Marrakech and Casablanca in concurrence with the shifting of utility lines.
"The project comprises the construction of bridges, a tunnel at the intersection of Marrakech, and bridges at the intersection of Rashidiya as well as the intersections of the Airport St. with Casablanca St. and Nad Al Hamar St. It also includes improving at-grade intersections, and constructing a service road of three lanes in each direction to separate the traffic movement from and to Nad Al Hamar St. from the vehicular flow on the Airport Street starting from Rashidiya Intersection up to Marrakech Intersection," explained Al Tayer.
The project will contribute to increasing the capacity of the Airport St. by an additional 5000 vehicles per hour. It will also enhance the traffic safety level and reduce the journey time on the Airport St. from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed St. to Casablanca St. from 30 minutes to 5 minutes.
"The improvement of Rashidiya Intersection comprises the construction of a bridge on the Airport St. of 3 lanes in each direction, which is expected to slash the waiting time at the interchange from 13 minutes to less than one minute," he stated.
Al Tayer said the upgrading of the Airport St. – Nad Al Hamar St. Intersection encompasses the construction of an additional bridge of two lanes in each direction to serve the traffic coming from Nad Al Hamar St. heading towards the Airport Street.
The project also includes the construction of a flyover of three lanes in each direction on the Airport St. along with a ramp stretching from the bridge directly to Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, bypassing the waiting at the light signal.
"A tunnel of two lanes in each direction is under construction to serve the leftward-bound traffic movement from the Airport St. to the direction of Marrakech St., which reduces the waiting time at the junction from seven minutes to less than one minute," he added.
According to him, the RTA is always keen to ensure that the design of the temporary diversion is identical to the design of permanent roads in terms engineering design, and levels of the surface and the asphalt, and the provision of sufficient lighting matching to the designed road speed to ensure the safety of users.
RTA, he stated, is forging ahead with the upgradation of the infrastructure of road networks and mass transit systems in Dubai by figuring out integrated solutions for land and marine transit systems that are safe for users and compatible with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2021.
"Such solutions are intended to respond to the needs of hosting Expo 2020, demographic growth, and contribute to the development & investments in the emirate," he added.-TradeArabia News Service