Dubai's top traffic hotspots as more schools open

The third wave of schools opening today may have staggered out the spike in traffic conditions over the past week, but commuters across the UAE are still bracing themselves for traffic jams.

While Dubai and Sharjah commuters took to social media to share their traffic experiences over the week, Abu Dhabi’s police handled 287 traffic accident reports between 8am and 2pm on Sunday, August 31 – when the first wave of schools opened doors, post the summer break.

Here are five traffic hotspots to take note of when you plan today’s morning commute:

Hessa Street

Hessa Street - that connects Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road to Al Sufouh Road is – is prone to traffic congestion.

Andrew Phillips, a Jumeirah Village Circle resident, who commutes to Dubai Media City travelling on Hessa Street says: “It is a daily struggle to make it through the morning and evening commute.”

Anshuman Prasad, a Sharjah resident, says: “Hessa Street is an internal road that serves as a feeder lane from commuters from Sharjah and Ajman that are travelling via Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road to reach the Media City freezone or Sheikh Zayed Road.

“Combine that with residents who live in the vicinity and the schools that are peppered down that stretch and you have all the ingredients for a daily gridlock.”

Javed Khamisani, who operates the community-based Twitter handle ‘Trafficdxb’ told Emirates 24|7, says: that a newly constructed school is to open up. “The road leading to the school from Hessa Street, just after the ramp from SMBZR and Sports City has been constructed by taking one lane (hard shoulder) for this very purpose.”

He adds: “Further down the road near Al Barsha South two schools also pose a traffic challenge in the early morning hours for office going commuters.

“While there is a third school down the road near Saudi German Hospital, which affects the exit ramp to Sheikh Zayed Road when coming from Al Barsha 2 and 3.”

Route options

Resident Abu Bakr Qadri suggests: “Sharjah/Ajman residents may want to cut through Umm Sequim Road and reach Media City/Jebel Ali via Sheikh Zayed Road. The traffic can be a little more fast moving there.

“Otherwise, travel down Hessa Street and divert onto First Al Khail Road for the bridge connecting you directly into Media City.”

A slightly longer detour that connects Al Khail Road to Al Khamila Street to reach the Jebel Ali Racecourse Road that connects you to the Media City bridge.

Al Sufouh Road

Al Sufouh is a busy feeder road that connects the end of Beach Road at the Madinat Jumeirah junction to Sheikh Zayed Road in a loop around Dubai Marina and the Jumeirah Beach Residences.

Khamisani further adds: “Al Sufouh gets affected because of Dubai College and Choueifat School.”

Route options

“Unfortunately, the only effective alternate to Al Sufouh is Sheikh Zayed Road,” explained Dubai resident Nadine Percy. “I drop my children at Choueifat and over the years I have tried variations but the only real alternative is the main highway or Hessa Street.”

Abdullah Mahmood differs, saying: “It really depends where you are coming from and which stretch of Al Sufouh you want to reach.

“One of the best solutions is to cut through Media City and Knowledge Village to avoid the gridlock that is Hessa Street.

“Also, sometimes it’s easier to take a wider loop and head past Dubai Marina Mall on Sheikh Zayed Road and take the Jumeirah Beach Residences exit to connect on to D94.”

Umm Suqeim Road

Kings Dubai Al Barsha is scheduled to open its doors on September 16 in Al Barsha South.

Commuter Preetima Joshi says: “Living in the Arabian Ranches and commuting to Jebel Ali via Umm Suqeim, my morning drive is affected. I will be left with no alternative but to wake up an hour earlier to avoid the morning rush.”

Route options

Backtrack, perhaps. Yassir Al Maghroubi says: “I actually drive in the opposite direction onto Al Marabea Street, which connects me on to Sheikh Zayed Road.

“It does add extra time to my daily commute to Jebel Ali in terms of distance, but when you factor is the gridlock on Hessa Street or First Al Khail Road, this works wonders.”

Al Maghroubi added: “I am also considering driving down all the way to the Al Maktoum International Airport and connecting to Jebel Ali from there. I will time my journey to see which alternative works better.” 

The Gardens

The Gardens community’s bottleneck affects residents attempting to connect to Sheikh Zayed Road in the morning.

Over the past year, developer Nakheel has opened an alternate route that connects residents to E77 (Al Yalayis Road) via Al Furjan community, which connects Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road and Sheikh Zayed Road.

Route options

Usman Hameed, a Discovery Gardens resident, says: “Try leaving an hour early or later to the school timings.” 

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