Major bridge opens towards Deira to ease traffic

Waiting times on the road are expected to drop from seven minutes to less than one.

The Roads and Transport Authority will open a major Deira-bound bridge at Marrakech intersection on Airport Street on Friday. RTA

A bridge will open in Deira in attempts to ease traffic flow towards the area, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Thursday.

The bridge - which will open on Friday - will be located at the intersection of Marrakech Street and Airport Road on Friday as part of the second contract of the Dh404 million Airport Road Improvement Project, which is expected to complete in December.

One of the bridges heading from Airport Road towards Khawaneej has already been completed.

The project includes an overpass on Airport Road, with three lanes in each direction, and a direct ramp from the bridge heading to Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport. It will remove the need to wait at traffic lights.

The intersection also includes building a two-lane tunnel to serve traffic heading left from Airport Road towards Marrakech Street.

Waiting times are expected to drop from seven minutes to less than one.

As of Friday, the traffic movement on the intersection will pass through the Rashidiya Intersection towards Deira through the new flyover.

Motorists heading to Umm Rumool may take the right lanes as per the directional signs towards the signalised intersection.

The RTA will close traffic coming from Terminal 1 heading towards Deira to complete the remaining works at the new bridge at the Casablanca intersection. It will also provide an alternative route through Street 51 passing via Casablanca Street.

The improvements are part of RTA’s plan to accommodate the projected growth in the number of passengers using the airport, which is expected to soar to 92 million by 2020.

The project will also contribute to increasing the capacity of Airport Road by 5,000 vehicles per hour, improving traffic safety and reducing the travel time on the road from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road to Casablanca Street from 30 minutes to five.