Enjoy non-stop green drive on Abu Dhabi road

Enjoy non-stop green drive on Abu Dhabi road
By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: July 08, 2008, 00:09

Abu Dhabi: Motorists on Al Salam Road, or the Eastern Ring Road, in Abu Dhabi can have a non-stop drive, after the ongoing project is completed.

Two major projects - Al Salam Road upgrade, and roads and parking project in Marina Village - will give a facelift to the city, Engineer Abdullah Al Shamsi, Director of Roads and Infrastructure at Abu Dhabi Municipality, told Gulf News.

The projects have been planned to improve the traffic capacity in accordance with an unprecedented increase in number of vehicles in the recent past, he said.

Number of vehicles increased by more than 100 per cent during the past eight years, from 242,409 in 2000, to 526,161 in 2007, according to a report by Department of Planning and Economy of Abu Dhabi Government.

Al Salam Road project will increase the capacity by 100 per cent, said the official. "Environmental aspect has also been taken care of with all road projects," he said.

New connectivity

The capacity of Al Salam Road will increase by 100 per cent to 6,000 vehicles per hour from the current capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 vehicles, said the official.

The road will be the gateway to the city centre, Al Mina Port, Corniche, and new developed areas such as Reem Island and Saadiyath Island. The four-lane road will have four tunnels to facilitate non stop drive.

Two tunnels will be at the beginning of the road, near Shaikh Khalifa Park, the third one will be near Sea Palace, and a fourth big tunnel will be close to Hazaa Bin Zayed Road.

The 4.6billion project of 13.7km is being carried out in three phases. The construction started in November 2007 and will be completed by 2010.

"We are reorganising the roads in the newly developed Marina Village No. 1," said the official.

The 1.6km road project costing more than Dh20 million will be completed soon.

The next stage will be done according to the studies of the Department of Transport on the requirements in the area after the introduction of public transport.

Tackling travel time

- More than 100 per cent increase in number of vehicles in eight years - from 242,409 in 2000, to 526,161 in 2007.

- Motorists spend an average of 45 minutes in Abu Dhabi to get to their work.

- Abu Dhabi population has increased steadily by 69.9% during the 1995-2008.

- UAE loses about Dh5 billion a year due to road congestion.

- One person dies every eight hours in road accidents (UAE). Most of the victims are young UAE nationals.