A new bridge opened on Al Qudra Road in Dubai will significantly reduce journey times, the emirate's Roads and Transport Authority has said.
The 600-metre bridge, at the junction linking Al Qudra Road to Arabian Ranches and Dubai Studio City, will increase traffic capacity by 191 per cent and reduce journey times from 9.4 minutes to 2.8 minutes. Waiting times will also be reduced from 113 seconds to 52 seconds.
“Al Qudra Road is one of the key projects undertaken to upgrade and strengthen Dubai’s east-west road corridors,” said Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the RTA.
“The project, extending from its intersection with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road to Emirates Road, serves several major development areas, most notably Arabian Ranches 1 and 2, Dubai Motor City, Dubai Studio City, Damac Hills, Mudon and Sustainable City.
“The project increases capacity, improves traffic efficiency at strategic intersections, reduces congestion and shortens travel times between key destinations.”
Residents told The National the bridge was already helping to reduce traffic a day after it opened.
Erika Blazeviciute-Doyle, an Arabian Ranches resident who used the new bridge on Sunday, said traffic flow had drastically improved.
“You were constantly stuck in traffic to get to Arabian Ranches – for instance from Parkview hospital on Umm Suqeim Road – but now half the traffic is going over the bridge and other half comes under the bridge, and either goes to Arabian Ranches or Studio City, so it’s a natural management of the traffic flow,” she said.
“It’s smooth now, this is because of the flyover bridge as the flow is not controlled by traffic lights. It was busy on Sunday but the cars just kept moving and did not pause near Arabian Ranches, the traffic continued to move.”
She looks forward to the entire project being completed as this would resolve congestion in several other communities.
“When they started the road works, of course for a period of time there's a lot of inconvenience, a lot of traffic and constantly changing lanes," she said. "But the impact will be positive because the number of residents in Arabian Ranches itself is not growing.
"The city is growing and expanding after Arabian Ranches with Damac Hills and Mudon, then Town Square and Damac Hills 2. It was an absolute necessity to have this bridge flyover to manage the through traffic.
"It’s still early days but for me, it’s already a positive experience. This is management of traffic based on people’s destinations so any traffic going past Arabian Ranches for other communities will be using the flyover bridge. Once all the construction is complete, it will be seamless.”
Another resident Sujatha Janarthanan who lived in the community for 19 years said the bridge was a much-needed fix but it would take the entire project to be delivered to make a difference to neighbourhoods further down.
“When we first moved, Ranches was the only community, later there was Studio City, Motor City that were developed, further down Polo Homes and Ranches 2, the entire stretch is flooded with apartments and villas.
"Also in 2028, there will be a handover of more villas so the road will be super congested if not for the bridge. People who go further through the Al Qudra cycling track and the extensions will wonder if this will be enough because until more flyovers are completed there will still be traffic jams.”
The need to provide traffic solutions was put into focus last year when the population of Dubai passed the four million mark, with predictions suggesting it will be home to 5.8 million by 2040.
Authorities are expanding the Metro through the Blue Line megaproject and upgrading the bus network, with the Etihad Rail project well under way.
