DUBAI // As residents in Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residences become increasingly frustrated with what seems to be an endless series of Dubai Tram roadworks, police have urged the public to bear with them for a little while longer.
Col Jamal Al Bannai, acting director of the general department of traffic, said the current diversions and detours, which include Al Sufouh Road at JBR being reduced to one lane in each direction, were part and parcel of development and improvement.
“What is happening now in these areas is completely normal and, more importantly, temporary,” he said. “Issues such as traffic and road blocks are unavoidable. The same as when a new road is being paved or a bridge is being built.
“All roadworks, as well as the new tram, are to ultimately decrease traffic and find a long-term solution for heavy congestion.”
Col Al Bannai said he appreciated people’s frustration but urged them to bear with it for a little longer.
“We understand that some people are getting angry, the traffic now is so that there will be a lot less congestion in the future, when the tram starts running,” he said.
“It’s like when a person is sick and needs to take medication, the medicine might taste bitter for just a moment, but he will feel much better afterwards.”
The traffic chief said he hoped the new tram would be beneficial to residents and tourists.
The Roads and Transport Authority said last month that vehicles would have to use service lanes instead of normal roads until September 20, with the Dubai Tram scheduled to open in November.
Natalie Tannous, 28, who lives in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, said the traffic in Dubai Marina had become an inconvenience for residents there as well.
“I sometimes spend a couple of hours stuck in traffic in Dubai Marina, when I’m returning home after work at about 6pm,” she said.
“I also have business in the area, so I always find myself running late for appointments.”
Ms Tannous also said she hoped the tram would offer residents and commuters some relief.
“All I know is that it cannot continue like this. The traffic was so bad on Monday that I parked my car and had to wait out the traffic at a friend’s house.”
For Nadine Khoury, 29, an architect who lives in Dubai Marina and works in Ajman, the drive home is taking at least twice as much time.
“It already takes me an hour to get home from Ajman. Now, with the traffic in Dubai Marina, I’m getting stuck for at least another hour on the road parallel to my building,” she said.
“It is beyond frustrating to have to drive for an hour and then wait another hour in traffic after I’ve been working since 8am.
“My apartment contract ends in a couple of months, and I am seriously considering moving.”
Laura Westmacott, 33, said what used to be an easy commute to work was no longer the case.
“I live by Byblos Hotel in Dubai Marina and take taxis to and from Barsha 1, next to Mall of the Emirates, where my office is. Usually it’s a 15-minute ride and I find a taxi straight away. But recently, I’ve been walking all the way to exit 29 and back towards the yacht club without finding a taxi in the nose-to-tail traffic jams,” she said. “The metro is seemingly the only way in the morning and at night, when it would take one and a half hours by car.
“I used to love living in Dubai Marina, but I’m beginning to wonder whether I can cope every morning with the stress levels, the heat and my blood boiling.”
Ms Westmacott said that car pooling and park-and-ride schemes should have been initiated ahead of the roadworks.
“Surely that would be good for the environment, too,” she said.
