Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced it has awarded an AED404 million ($110m) contract to upgrade Airport Road.
The government body said the move is part of a plan to cater to the projected growth in travellers using Dubai International Airport, which expects to serve 92 million passengers by 2020.
The upgrades are expected to contribute to increasing the handling capacity of the Airport Road by an extra 5000 vehicles per hour, an RTA statement said. They will also reduce the journey time on Airport Road from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road (E311) to Casablanca Street from 30 minutes to 5 minutes.
It did not specify which contractor had been awarded the work.
A traffic study conducted by the RTA stresses the importance of completing the project by 2017, said Mattar Al Tayer, RTA chairman.
“The project comprises the construction of bridges [and] tunnels at Rashidiya and Airport Road interchange with each of Casablanca St, Marrakech St. and Nad Al Hamar St,” Al Tayer said.
“It also includes improving at-grade intersections, and constructing a service road of three lanes in each direction to separate the traffic movement from and to Nad Al Hamar from the vehicular flow on the Airport Street, starting from Rashidiya Interchange up to Marrakech Interchange.”
The improvement of the Rashidiya Interchange comprises the construction of a bridge on the Airport Road of three lanes in each direction; which is expected to slash the waiting time at the interchange from 13 minutes to less than one minute, the chairman explained.
The upgrading of the Airport Road – Nad Al Hamar Road Interchange encompasses the construction of an additional bridge of two lanes in each direction. This will serve traffic from Nad Al Hamar bound towards the Airport Road, easing current traffic snarls.
The Marrakech Street – Airport Road Interchange will see the construction of a flyover on the Airport Road of three lanes in each direction along with a ramp from the bridge in the direction of the Dubai International Airport Terminal 3. The project also includes the construction of a two-lane tunnel to serve the traffic heading left from the Airport Road in the direction of Marrakech Street.
An additional single-lane bridge will be built at the Airport Road – Casablanca Street Interchange, cutting the total waiting time at Casablanca Street from three minutes to one minute, Al Tayer added.
