Dubai: Nakheel’s Deira Islands project, which is envisioned to create 80,000 jobs, has marked a major milestone with the completion of the Dh150 million road bridge, but it may take some time before the public can access the mega development.

A spokesperson for the project told Gulf News on Wednesday that the use of the roadlink, which connects Deira Islands with Dubai mainland, will be restricted to construction teams and authorised visitors, as infrastructure work is still ongoing.

The first batch of the residential and hotel towers at the islands are expected to come on stream in the second quarter of 2020 yet.

Funded and constructed by Nakheel as part of its Dh1 billion infrastructure works at Deira Islands, the new bridge is set to open on Friday, as announced by the Roads and Transportation Authority (RTA).

“We thank the RTA for its assistance and co-operation in supervising the construction and completion of this vital element of Deira Islands. The bridge is a key part of the ongoing infrastructure at the development, and we are extremely proud to have reached this milestone,” said Nakheel chairman Ali Rashid Lootah.

A spokesperson for the developer said that access to the islands will still be limited.“The bridge will eventually be open to the public but for now access is limited,” the spokesperson said.

The bridge starts at Al Khaleej Road and leads to Deira Islands A.

The project is a scaled-back version of the Palm Deira which will be home to 16 residential buildings, two hotels and two service apartment complexes covering an area of nine million square feet - equivalent to the size of 118 international-standard football fields.

The 20 towers will surround Deira Mall, a 6.5 million-square-foot shopping, dining and leisure destination.

The development, which will also include marinas, is expected to have around 250,000 residents and create 80,000 new jobs that will be created in the residential, tourism, leisure and retail industries.

Nakheel has recently appointed consultants AE7 to oversee the design, engineering and construction supervision of the Deira Islands Boulevard. A construction tender is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2017.