Zabeel 2 Road renovation nears completion

Improvements to Zabeel 2 Road will be completed next week, Matar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), announced yesterday.

Almost 50 per cent of construction work on the first interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road has been completed.

Al Tayer mentioned this during an inspection tour of a number of road projects.

"Early next week the underpass at Zabeel Palace roundabout will be opened, providing free traffic flow to vehicles coming from Al Khail Road and Business Bay Road towards the Trade Centre roundabout, and vice versa," he said.

The Dh209 million project included the widening of the existing road from two to three lanes in each direction along a 2km section from the palace roundabout towards the World Trade Centre. The underpass beneath the roundabout will absorb heavy traffic from Zabeel 2 Road.

The project involved landscaping the sides of the road with palms and seasonal flowers and the provision of pavements and jogging tracks.

Al Tayer completed his tour by inspecting work on the first interchange, one of the biggest flyovers to be built by the RTA. This contract involves the construction of bridges extending for more than 3km and 850m of underpasses. The overall cost of the project, which is being built by the Italian company Salini, is estimated at Dh617m.

The new interchange will enable free traffic flow in all directions and will link Sheikh Zayed Road and both the upper and lower decks of the Financial Centre Road. An underpass will link the road at the back of the Mazaya Centre with the road at the back of towers overlooking Sheikh Zayed Road. Al Safa Road will be widened and there will be improvements to interchanges up to Al Wasl Road.

"These projects are part of the RTA's strategy to keep pace with urban development and meet the current and anticipated requirements of growth and demographic expansion for roads and modern transport networks," added Al Tayer.