Dh74m project for Abu Dhabi school areas

The Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM) is moving ahead with a scheme for enhancing road safety around schools in Abu Dhabi city as part of an overall plan to assess traffic safety of roads network. The Dh74 million project covers 98 schools across Abu Dhabi Island and Mainland, with a view to ensuring the highest standards of safety of students, and the safe crossing and movement of students from and to schools. Musbbah Mubarak Al Murar, Acting General Manager of Abu Dhabi City Municipality, said: "The launch of road safety improvement programme and school zones safety project is accorded top priority by the municipal system, which reiterates its unfaltering commitment to enhance the safety of road users by first targeting the most precious, yet accident-prone segment of the community i.e. children and young students." "In 2011, Abu Dhabi City Municipality made significant improvement in assessing risks, and managed to identify traffic accidents hotspots all over the road network. It compiled a programme to devise solutions, reflecting the Municipality's compliance with the UN Roads Safety Charter. Having analyzed the collected data, the Municipality came up with the key solution of a programme to implement traffic safety improvements with specific priorities dictated by the commitment to ensure the safety of schools, children and the community at large," said Al Murar. Commenting on the latest developments in schools traffic safety scheme, Majid Al Kathiri , Director, Department of Internal Roads, Infrastructure and Municipal Assets, said: "Work is up and running in the schools traffic safety scheme, which sets sight on several key drivers including the preparation of traffic safety development studies in 60 schools. The Concept Design for those schools has been completed, and the proposed designs for 25 schools have been approved by the Urban Planning Division. Actual construction works will start immediately after the project and the budget are officially sanctioned by the competent authorities." "The project, added Majid, includes upgrading and improving traffic movement in entrances, exits and roads surrounding school zones, besides enhancing traffic safety of vehicles (buses and cars) at zebra crossings around school zones. The project also comprises the construction of new infrastructure in schools such as parking lots, additional parking spaces (for vehicles and buses), speed breakers (speed bumps, and zebra crossing humps), traffic signs, and road surface markings at school zones." He noted that the implementation of the project would take about two years starting from actual start date. Concerning the expected positive implications and benefits to school students after the completion of the project in terms of safety and security, Al Kathiri said: "The project will achieve tangible positive effects that contribute to raising pedestrians' safety such as uplifting the level of traffic safety and the safety of students movement by dedicating walkways, giving priority to pedestrians, and separating the movement of parents' vehicles from buses movement to further ensure security and safety. The advantages of the project also include designating safe areas for students, ensuring safe boarding and alighting of students is at par with the global standards adopted in Abu Dhabi emirate, which stipulate that boarding and alighting shall be from the right side of the bus that faces the school’s building to fend off students movement to the front of buses. The project is the culmination of an extensive in-depth field study made in collaboration with some of the world's leading traffic safety companies to assess the traffic safety risks in the Municipality's road network. The final conclusions of the study highlighted the importance of setting up a pecking order of priorities identifying high, medium, and low-risks areas to ensure maximum safety of road users. The development improvement plan entailed drafting a five-year work plan assigning immediate priority to zebra crossings, ensuring safe pedestrians crossing and mobility, thus rendering school zones safe haven for all, especially children, parents and school staff, besides improving the signaling system and road markings.