When I moved to Dubai Marina four years ago, there were signs dotted all over the place bearing a marketing slogan: “The Heartbeat of a New City”. But this new city is in danger of having a coronary. Its arteries are clogged, stress levels are off the charts and there’s seemingly no cure in sight for its chronic condition. If Dubai Marina were a human being, it would have been rushed into intensive care months ago for a bypass operation.
This descent into poor health has been relatively swift. When I landed here, I was happy in my new home. Despite construction work going on in most parts of the Marina, getting around was never really that much trouble.
Over those four years, things became progressively more difficult for anyone driving around the area, but we all thought it would eventually be OK. We knew these were growing pains; the Marina’s increasingly clogged arteries – its roads – would soon operate like new again, thanks to the opening of the Dubai Tram – an incredible feat of modern engineering that would bring transport diversity to this part of the city.
In November last year, the roads once again became usable and the jams eased. The tram had been pressed into service and all was good in Dubai Marina. This newfound joy lasted just a few weeks, however, before things became worse than ever. In the eyes of residents and motorists alike, the tram has caused more problems than it has solved.
The difficulties really came when five left- and U-turns intersecting the tramline were closed with no warning – some with concrete blocks, some without. Anyone mistakenly taking a left turn onto certain roads (the old direction signs telling you to turn left are still in place) faces a fine and black points. Confusion is rife. Signage is nowhere near adequate and police officers are at every junction ready to jot down the numbers of anyone making an honest mistake. I know; I’ve been one of them.
So in the city of U-turns, here you’re no longer permitted to make them. To get from Sheikh Zayed Road to my building used to take no more than a couple of minutes; now it can take up to an hour, thanks to a forced detour all the way to Jumeirah Lake Towers and back, where I inevitably join a sea of queuing traffic. Fortunately for me, I rarely use my car to commute these days, but for everyone reliant on personal transport for work – including my wife – it has reached the stage where they wonder how much longer they can go on like this.
Residents are taking to Twitter to vent their anger and express frustration regarding new, unacceptable levels of noise pollution, caused by motorists leaning on their horns because of the gridlock, even in the early hours of the morning.
Now that I work in Media City, I have three transport choices to and from my office. I can walk (six kilometres/50 minutes either way), take the tram (at least 30 minutes) or use the roads. The last option can take up to an hour, so the car remains unused. Now that temperatures are climbing, walking is less appealing. So the Dubai Tram it is, then.
I’m one of the lucky ones, though. For the vast majority of Dubai Marina residents, life has simply become unbearable through no fault of their own. If that “heartbeat” is to continue for much longer, drastic surgery is required. No bypass required – just get those arteries unblocked by opening up every possible route. Then this city just might be able to breathe again.
motoring@thenational.ae
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