Dubai Tour update: Road closures, route guide

The route for today’s second stage of the four-day Dubai Tour will be through Silicon Oasis, the Camel Track, before reaching the Al-Qudra Cycletrack. In the second part, the stage course enters the city centre near Dubai Motor City and will lead all the way up to Palm Jumeirah.

Roads to avoid include Silicon Oasis between 11.15am to 12.05pm; Al Quadra Street from 1.15pm to 2.20pm; Motor City between 1.45pm to 2.55pm; Jumeirah Islands from 2.15pm to 3.20pm and Palm Jumeirah from 2.30pm to 3.35pm.

Dubai Police have shared the following schedule for partial road closures for the day:

Second Stage Route – Thursday – February 5: From Dubai International Marine Club to Plam Jumeirah (Atlantis) ‪#‎DubaiTour

Please note that there is a delay expected because of Dubai Tour’s Second phase at the following streets & timing:

• Al Sufouh Road from 10:00 to 11:00 am

• Umm Suqeim Street and Al Khail from 10:15 to 11:15 am

• Meydan Street from 10:45 to 11:30 am

• Nad Al Sheba 3 area from 10:50 to 11:45 am

• University City area from 11:45 am to 12:50 pm

• Aweer Street from 11:45 am to 13:00 pm

• Jebel Ali street Al Habab & Dubai-Al Ain from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm

• Allisala area from 1:30 pm to 2:00 pm

• Al Qudra street from 2:00 – 2:30 pm

• Umm Suqeim Road Al Barsha South, and then Hessa Street from 2:30 to 2:55 pm

• Asayil and Al Worood 1 and 3 and the 1st Khail, Al Naseem, & Al Folouq street from 2:55 to 3:20 pm

• The Palm from 3:20 – 3:55 pm

“Are you planning to visit us today? Please be aware that roads in Academic City will be closed until midday for #DubaiTour,” tweeted Dubai’s education regulator Knowledge and Human Development Authority (@KHDA) this morning.

“Good morning! For those coming to our #PalmDZ, please be aware that due to #DubaiTour there may be some road delays,” added Skydive Dubai (‏@skydivedubai).

Meanwhile, classrooms looked deserted in some Dubai schools as several parents seemed to have opted to keep children home because of a change in school timings owing to the four-day Dubai Tour.

Some schools declared holidays for Thursday whereas others are open for just a few hours, due to road closures.

For those who completely stayed away, many kids enjoyed playdates and picnics. “The kids did not go to school on Wednesday but it’s difficult to keep them occupied throughout the day so we organised a playdate with other children from their class,” said a mother of two kids studying in Horizon school.

Schools that were open for a few hours saw poor attendance, especially the primary section. “The class looked quite deserted when I dropped my 4-year-old yesterday,” said a mother of a KG student in Emirates International School-Meadows.

“Taxis were overbooked yesterday and I was delayed in picking up my child. I’ll keep him home today to avoid the traffic mess,” she added.

“The school is open only for three hours so it doesn’t make sense to send them. Moreover, I work and it’s very difficult to rush from work to pick them up just after a few hours. The pick-up time will be very chaotic as all kids will finish the same time instead of regular days when primary and high school finish at different times. So, it’s best they stay home,” said another parent from the same school.

Those who did go to schools took advantage of the more fun time they had, and went ahead to neighbouring parks for picnics.

Parents in Jebel Ali Primary School organised playdates to keep the children busy on these off days.

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