12.16 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Capital to launch Mideast’s longest tunnel on time

Capital to launch Mideast’s longest tunnel, extended beach on time. (FILE)

Published
By Nadim Kawach

Abu Dhabi is bracing to inaugurate the Middle East’s longest traffic tunnel and an expanded resort beach on time towards the year end as the emirate is pushing ahead with a major development drive to cope with rapid population growth.

When the tunnel is operated, drivers heading into Abu Dhabi will be able to emerge on the southern tip of the coastal city without having to go through agonizing traffic bottlenecks that often characterize the capital’s roads.

The Abu Dhabi Municipality said it had completed more than 75 per cent of the Dhfive-billion tunnel project which also involves long causeways linking the Capital with the nearby Reem and Saadiyat islands.

“This mega infrastructure project is part of the municipality’s strategic aim to meet the requirements of a developing city, as well as respond to the needs of the growing population,” the Municipality said.

Thousands of workers, armed with bulldozers and cranes, have been involved in the construction of one of the largest infrastructure ventures in the region.

The causeways connecting the Western flank of the Capital to Reem Island have been completed and are scheduled to be officially opened at the end of this month.

They will serve the Island, once a desolate tiny isle before it is turned into a major inhabitant centre housing nearly 200,000 people.

“The project was launched more than two years ago and will be completed on time at the end of this year… it will the first free and clear road for traffic coming from the north towards Mina Zayed and the Corniche road,” said Abdulah Al Shamsi, Acting Director of the Roads Division at the Municipality.

“We have completed more than 65 per cent of the project…the parts completed include the bridges linking Abu Dhabi city to Reem and Saadiyat Islands.”

The project has severely disrupted traffic and caused massive road bottlenecks on Salam Street and the Tourist Club area in the Western part of the Capital but officials say such problems would be a matter of the past once the tunnel and accompanying flyovers are completed.

Once the tunnel is completed, passengers coming from Dubai and other emirates will have two optional directions - either to take the expanded surface road into the capital or plunge around 15 metres underground into the tunnel.

Those heading for Reem can just turn right and drive along the causeway.

The tunnel will run underground from the capital’s northeastern entrance straight to Port Zayed and other coastal areas in the southern part of the city, where the fish market and harbour, the sprawling vegetable market, the ageing Iranian free port, cooperative societies and other facilities are located.

South Korea’s Samsung construction company is the main consultant for this project, part of a long-term blueprint by Abu Dhabi to expand its inhabited areas and road networks to cope with a sharp rise in the population, which officials expect to nearly triple in the next 20 years.

The tunnel will run just under Al Salam street while a causeway will connect the new junction at the entrance of the tunnel with the 900-hectare Al Reem Island, which will be inhabited by a few thousands people this year.

Al Reem, around 300 metres off the coast of Abu Dhabi, is being developed by Sorouh (Shams Abu Dhabi), Reem Investments and other property developers.

It will be one of the largest and most impressive tourist developments in the world once after the completion of those projects, which involve residential, commercial and recreational centres. It will also house hotels, restaurants, gardens, museums, an aquarium, amusement parks for children and a wildlife reserve.

Another major development project, the expansion of the famous Abu Dhabi beach, is running parallel to the tunnel construction and is scheduled to be completed towards the end of this year.

The Abu Dhabi Municipality is carrying out the project, which will be confined to families.

Sources at the project said it would cost over Dh30 million to bring to more than Dh200 million the total investments pumped into the Abu Dhabi beach resort.

The new project, launched early this year, involves extension of the three-km beach towards the Hilton Hotel on the Western tip of the Corniche, one of the largest and most developed seaside roads in the region.

The project was prompted by a surge in the number of visitors seeking to enjoy the warm azure water and scorching summer sun for a token fee away from costly hotel beaches and swimming pools in the capital.

The Abu Dhabi Municipality has set up the project to face an expected sharp increase in swimmers in the next seasons as a nearby free public beach on Ras Alakhdar has been shut to give way for the construction of a massive palace.

Located midway between the Hilton and Sheraton hotels, the beach resort  has cost around Dh150 million as it includes a well-equipped clean beach, restaurants,  cafes, a hotel, a mosque, parks, chalets, and other facilities.

The project is the latest in an ongoing massive development programme at Abu Dhabi’s Corniche, where at least Dhtwo billion had been spent over the past eight years to develop and reshape the road and the entire area.

Abu Dhabi has been locked in a drive to expand its tourism sector as part of a long-term programme to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

The drive also includes construction of new hotels to accommodate a surge in visitors and there are plans to add nearly 17,000 hotel rooms to the existing 10,000 rooms.

Officials expect a t least three million visitors to come to Abu Dhabi in 2015 and five million in 2025.