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29 March 2024

Al Nahda residents complain of night gridlock

Pictures credit: Sneha May Francis

Published
By Sneha May Francis

Residents living in Al Nahda, Dubai, are unhappy over constantly dodging long-winding traffic gridlocks to reach their homes.

The service lane, just off Amman Street, is lined with a row of supermarkets, restaurants and shops, and becomes traffic nightmare come nightfall.

Shoppers and customers to the many restaurants in the area block traffic by double parking. “Drivers just park their cars wherever they like, and put the blinkers on,” observed a resident.

Picture by Sneha May Francis

“They could be gone for 30-40 minutes, without a care in the world.”

Rajesh, who resides in one of the complexes on the street, claims it’s nightmarish to find his way home. “It’s almost like a battlefield, with so many cars honking and swerving to find a parking slot.”

There are numerous paid parking slots, but after 8pm, it’s tough to find a spot.

One time, a resident was stranded in a parking lot because another car had parallel parked behind his vehicle.

“I couldn’t do anything but wait. I started honking but realised it was useless. So, I waited until the lady stepped out of Carrefour Express and drove off,” recalled Nisha.

Picture by Sneha May Francis

Customers to Madina supermarket are often spotted parking just off the round-about, and waiting to be served in their car. “I just can’t understand why these people can’t park and go buy what they want,” quizzed Rajesh. “Instead, they would sit in their cars, block traffic until they are served.”

Residents who live in the lane parallel to the service road, and who frequent the area for shopping, recounted the chaos. “Earlier we used to drive up for our grocery shopping, but now realise it is futile to take the car there. We’d be spending more time in the traffic block, then in grocery shopping.”

Sreebala Srinivas, another resident of the area, admits that double parking is a major problem, but so are the crowd. “People walk out of the restaurants and stand in groups and chat away by blocking and ignoring the cars.”

Unlike other residents in the area, she has access to parking behind the building, which allows her to skip the traffic jam.

She asserted that regular patrolling by police could solve the problem. “They must fine drivers for double parking and blocking free flow of traffic.”