Sharjah: A major bottleneck on Emirates Road leading to Sharjah from Dubai has eased following the opening of an upgraded interchange connecting the highway with Maleiha Road.

Opened for traffic on Sunday, the much-awaited interchange has already significantly reduced tailbacks from both sides, with a dedicated three-lane ramp, helping streamline the peak-hour evening traffic towards Sharjah.

One of the four main corridors between Sharjah and Dubai, Emirates Road like the other three corridors — Ittihad Road, Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Airport Tunnel/Beirut Street — sees daily tailbacks stretching for several kilometres, which is set to improve considerably now.

“I just zipped past the interchange on Sunday morning, I was surprised to see that there was no congestion. It took me a few minutes to drive through in the evening as well. The upgrade has done wonders and this will certainly help people save a lot of time,” said Salem Al Beloushi, who drives between Umm Al Quwain and Dubai daily for work.

Dh200m

is the cost of the Al Badi Interchange upgrade

He added that earlier he had to start his trip around 5am to avoid the congestion and now he starts at 7am to reach office in Dubai by 8am.

Offering relief to thousands of motorists, who use the busy corridor daily, the revamped 12-lane interchange now boasts twice its previous capacity, supporting 17,700 vehicles per hour.

“The wait is finally over and I feel our patience has been repaid very well. It used to take at least 45 minutes to pass the interchange towards Sharjah now it takes me just a few minutes, there is no tailback anymore,” said Faheem Ahmad.

The evening tailback on Emirates Road was caused mainly due to a bottleneck on Al Badi Interchange, which previously had only three lanes on each side, with the exit to Sharjah further narrowing down to two lanes, reducing from up to nine lanes on the Dubai side of the highway.

“The busy Al Badi Interchange that provides access to all emirates had a capacity of 9,000 vehicles per hour previously, with the upgrade its capacity almost increased by 100 per cent, reaching 17,700 vehicles per hour,” said Ahmad Al Hammadi, Director of Road Department, Ministry of Infrastructure Development.

Besides offering a direct access to Sharjah, the Dh200 million project separates the traffic towards northern emirates, with the Sharjah exit branching out more than two kilometres before the access ramp at interchange.

The project also offers wider exits to Fujairah, reducing trip time to the emirate from Dubai and Shajrah.

Earlier, a three-lane exit to Dubai from Maleiha Road was opened, smoothening the morning commute for thousands of motorists.

From the direction of Sharjah, the exit from Maleiha Road has already been expanded to three lanes, while three extra lanes have been added for the traffic heading straight to Kalba and Maleiha.

17,700

vehicles can be handled the revamped interchange per hour

Originally scheduled to be ready by December 2017, Al Hammadi said that the interchange has been designed keeping in mind future demands, adding that the project will help reduce congestion on the other Dubai-Sharjah corridors.

The interchange will be in greater demand, once the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) completes the Tripoli Road extension that connects Mohammad Bin Zayed Road with Emirates Road, offering direct connectivity to motorists from Business Bay crossing as well as from Mohammad Bin Zayed Road.

Construction on the 12-kilometre-long link is currently underway, with the exit towards Emirates Road taking shape.

Meanwhile, the work on the Maleiha Road expansion from two lanes to three has completed and the widened road opened for traffic earlier this year.