Sharjah Ruler opens new motorway from city to Khor Fakkan, cutting travel time by half
A motorway that will halve the travel time between Sharjah and Khor Fakkan opened yesterday by Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah.
The four-lane road is 89 kilometres long and has five tunnels. It will connect Khor Fakkan on the east coast to the Dafta region of Sharjah on the Arabian Gulf.
The 135km drive normally takes about 90 minutes, mostly on the Sharjah-Kalba Road. Now motorists will weave through mountains to arrive at their destination in just 45 minutes.
Construction of the highway – part of the Dh5.5 billion Road 142 project – involved boring through mountains and included Al Rafisah Dam rest stop and recreational centre, which was also opened by the Ruler of Sharjah yesterday.
The shortest tunnel, Al Saha road, is 300 metres long and the longest, Al Sidra Tunnel, extends for 2.7km.
The second phase of the project includes a road from Khor Fakkan to Shais.
“The people of Shais were in urgent need for a road that serves them, and despite the high cost of the project, and how difficult it was to work on it in a mountainous hard terrain and high area, our main goal was to serve people – nationals and residents,” Dr Sheikh Sultan said yesterday.
“Around 14 years ago, I was here in Shais and the people were suffering, they couldn’t transfer their patients to hospitals.
“I used to come here every year, and we used to climb the shaky giant rocks to get there.”