Road construction causes accidents at traffic black spot

ABU DHABI // A traffic black spot created by construction on Salam Street is causing congestion and up to two car crashes a day. Since work at the spot began about a month ago, Hatham Rashid, the manager at Al Masaood Marine, said he had watched through the window of his showroom as cars outside swerved to avoid accidents at the new traffic signal, which is between Hazaa bin Zayed and Al Falah streets leading out of the capital.

"Every day I hear the braking," he said. "Squeals from panicked stops fill the showroom about a dozen times a day. There are at least one or two accidents a day, usually in the afternoon." A signal was installed at the site to accommodate a U-turn to Salam Street towards the Maqta Bridge. The inside lane ends with little warning and four lanes narrow to three, forcing drivers to swerve into the middle lane.

The detour has been caused by an underground electrical cable that needed to be moved, said Atef Garib, a traffic and transport expert at Abu Dhabi Municipality. This forced the municipality to reduce the size of the road, he said. "We tried our best to provide four lanes, but we could not," Mr Garib said. In the meantime, a crew of workers was collecting traffic information that would be analysed to improve traffic flow.

Mr Garib encouraged motorists to use caution when travelling through the construction area. The cable would be relocated within two months, he said. Mr Rashid said most of the accidents were minor, but some were more serious. Last week, he saw an SUV crash into a car from behind, flipping the vehicle of an Emirati woman who was eight months' pregnant. "I have training in emergency first response, so I ran out there and brought them water," he said. "I saw her husband running out. It was awful."

The woman was taken to hospital. Mr Rashid later called and was told that both the woman and her unborn child were well. He said the combination of speed and poor signage may prove deadly. "Every day I drive by and I'm scared of that spot," he said. "Just today they seem to have widened the road, so hopefully it will be much better." The construction on Salam Street is part of a plan to develop a 2.2km, eight-lane tunnel that will serve Reem, Suwa and Saadiyat islands and the Mina area east of Abu Dhabi.

The municipality is conducting the work, which will also include 1.2km of roads leading to and from the tunnel. Construction started in April and is expected to continue until 2011. @Email:[e-mail] [e-mail]