Gridlocks choke Dubai's morning rush-hour traffic

Schools' reopening, post-Ramadan and -Eid office timings and end-of-summer return to business season, has contributed to gridlocks in various parts of the city of Dubai, especially in areas leading to and around schools.

Traffic movement in the city has come down to a crawl between 8am to 9am, reminiscent of the days of the boom when roads were choked with cars, and getting around in time for anything was nigh impossible.

The slow movement - and even chaos in some locations - has been compounded with the seeming absence of traffic police and RTA provisions to ensure smooth flow near schools.

More than 700,000 students joined school at the start of this week and more will begin school in the coming days. With schools urging parents to drop their children in the first few days to help them to get used to going to school, more cars are on the road in the mornings.

"It took me half an hour to get across a 100 metre road near some schools in Gardens," said a visibly irritable motorist.

"The Al Hadiqa Road leading to Safa Park and Union Co-op in Jumeirah, for some reason was chock-a-block this morning," said another driver. "It took me a good half an hour to get from Bowling Centre crossing to the Union Co-op signal."

On Sunday morning, Emirates 24|7 saw choatic scenes in Gardens where two schools are located.

The roads leading to the schools have two lanes each. Both entry points were choked with buses, cars and children walking to school. Cars were parked haphazardly at the roundabout, leading to restrictions on movement of traffic.

There is no parking close to the schools unlike in other parts of the city, forcing parents to abandon their cars along the roads and at the roundabout to escort their children to the school in time for the opening.

Harrassed school security personnel were trying as best as they could to bring some order to the choas with irate motorists mostly ignoring the school staff efforts to guide them.

"This scene happens every school morning," said a resident.


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Comments

  • Jigz 11 September 2012 17:48 1 0
    Its how drivers react when they see traffic congestion on the roads. They tend to ignore traffic rules by lane changing and driving on the hard shoulder. This always add up to more traffic congestion. Traffic Police should always be there when this happens.
  • MO 11 September 2012 17:32 0 0
    I will tell you something, Dubai roads nor the Traffic Departments are responsible for Traffic Jams, you keep your lane do not abuse lane change, traffic will go smooth.
  • MO 11 September 2012 17:30 0 0
    Lane change "SHOULD NOT" be allowed at very congested areas/inter changes.. like traffic coming from National Paint get congested right after the bridge because of inbound traffic from Sharjah & Al Qusais... where everyone try to be in the first Lane.. that area should be marked "NO LANE CHANGE" till Mirdif or even after so flow of incoming traffic from the previous points is in control to avoid long tails.
  • JilRainey 11 September 2012 12:18 1 0
    Thanks to the policeman directing traffic for the turn back next to Safa Park on school mornings. Doing a terrific job. I only wish he would wear a high visibility jacket as sometimes early morning with the sun shining in your face it is difficult to see him. I fear for his safety!
  • Amena 11 September 2012 12:02 2 0
    Thumbs up for @MO! I deliver my kids around 8 to school and get morning nagging (school starts at 7.30) so as to not wake them up before 6.30am. It's pointless to bring them back home at 3-4 pm and let them to bed at 6 pm, right? They've got homework, that's some 10 good daily hours only for school job.
  • MO 11 September 2012 10:38 6 1
    Please change the school timings to 9:30. This way kids will not get tired getting up at 5:30. Block all pickups & trucks till 9:30 and bound them to use only Dubai outer road. Strictly tell the Buses to use last 1 or 2 Lanes, monitor the lazy/phone using drivers. Mark the 1st 2 lanes to strictly adhere to maximum road speed. Mark the congested areas that "LANE CHANGE" is strictly not allowed here.
  • Moose 11 September 2012 10:24 1 0
    Give the authorities some time, I'm sure Dubai Police are undergoing a plan to control the traffic. I believe that school traffic flow should be controlled similarly to what you see in Dubai Airport Terminals, where the departure and arrival section is heavily monitored by police and heavy fines are given if motorists overstay their drop-off/pickup minutes.
  • M. 11 September 2012 10:04 4 0
    We all are spending 80 Hours a month just STUCK in traffic, considering 4 hours/day for 5 days a week. Not sure how many realize but we are literally getting sick .
  • Resident 11 September 2012 08:52 3 1
    No no.. I pay close to AED 1,000 dirhams a month for Salik therefore this traffic is just an illussion! :o)

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