His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, has endorsed the awarding of phase two and phase three contract of Al Khail Road upgrading project at an estimated cost of Dh1.29 billion.
Widening of Al Khail Road is among the key projects undertaken by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), as it is viewed as an extension of the Business Bay Crossing.
The project aims to create a traffic corridor to support Sheikh Zayed Road and Emirates Road; both of which handle massive traffic volumes. The RTA is currently engaged in upgrading the Parallel Roads Project and Dubai Bypass Road; which serve residential projects under construction such Jumeirah South Village, Dubai Land, Dubai Sports City, and the International Media Production Zone.
The Chairman of the board and Executive Director of the RTA, Mattar Al Tayer, described Al Khail Road upgrading project as an integral part of road projects currently undertaken by the RTA to reduce traffic jams in the emirate of Dubai.
"Considering the immense nature of the project, it has been phased out into six stages, three of them have been completed and one is under way, pushing the value of contracts so far awarded under the project to more than Dh1.8bn.
"The RTA paid special attention to the associated traffic diversions in order to have the least impact on the intensive traffic flow on both Emirates Road and Al Khail Road," said Al Tayer.
The project entails widening and upgrading the existing Al Khail Road in a section extending 15 km, starting from the junction of Muscat Road up to the junction of Emirates Road.
The existing road will also be widened from four to six lanes, and the existing four roundabouts will be transformed into flyovers, securing free traffic flow in all directions at the interchange.
The project includes construction of new interchanges to create access points for some of the adjacent property development projects. It also comprises construction of a road extending nine km, thereby extending the existing Al Khail Road up to the interchange of Dubai Bypass Road, in addition to construction of four free interchanges to serve the growing urban communities," he added.
He said: "Phase two of the project, which has been awarded to Gunal Construction at a cost of Dh852 million, includes construction of two multi-level flyovers to replace the existing two roundabouts at the intersection of Al Khail Road with Road 319 and Road 323 at Al Qouz residential and industrial areas. Both will be transformed into multi-level interchanges, providing free traffic flow in all directions in a shape of a full cloverleaf, and a bridge will be added to provide direct turn to the left.
Phase three of the project has been awarded to Ascon Road Contracting at a cost of Dh438m. It covers upgrading the road extending after Umm Suqeim junction up to the junction of Emirates Road. It includes widening the existing road, constructing a bridge at the intersection of Road 331, and a new bridge to serve Jumeirah South Village.