Dubai Canal update: New Sheikh Zayed Road bridge opens [videos]

Motorists in Dubai were in for a surprise Thursday morning as a part of the new Sheikh Zayed Road flyover has been opened to traffic.

Vehicles heading northbound on Sheikh Zayed Road, towards World Trade Centre, can now connect on to the new flyover on their commute to Bur Dubai and Sharjah, with the bridge running parallel to the Dubai Metro tracks.

The elevation comes into effect from the second interchange.

The new flyover is part of the Dubai Canal project, which would see the partial elevation of E11, with a 16-lane bridge across both directions of the highway.

Over the past few days, commuters have been facing gridlock and tailbacks stretch from Interchange 2 until Dubai Police Academy, with the Roads and Transport Authority blocking a lane to traffic for the final additions to the roadworks.

Motorists on Thursday morning took to social media lauding the RTA for their efforts, with one Twitter user saying: “Well done RTA Dubai opening the Sheikh Zayed Road canal bridge.”

However, gridlock had yet to ease up in the area with commuters still reporting ‘heavy traffic’ heading north on E11 ‘due to new bridge opening over new canal at Business Bay and long tailbacks’, said one motorist at 8.15am.

At 8.45am, traffic was still prevalent in the area, with John Grainger tweeting: “Could the new SZR canal bridge not been opened tomorrow when quiet thereby saving disruption to thousands of journeys this morning?”

The roadworks, once completed, will see the Dubai Canal waterway linking Business Bay with the Arabian Gulf.

The elevation of Sheikh Zayed Road to allow water transportation vessels to move across is part of Phase I of the Dubai Canal project.

Phase II includes the construction across three lanes on Jumeirah Beach Road and two lanes on Al Wasl Road in each direction.

While Phase III will see the construction of three pedestrian bridges to link Jumeirah Beach Walk with Al Safa Park Walk.

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