Five bridges in Dubai open as part of improved access to city’s Deira Islands development

Five new bridges leading to the entrance of Dubai’s Deira Islands are open to traffic.

These bridges improve access to the four artificial islands from Al Khaleej Road and Abu Baker Al Siddique Road.

The new routes can handle up to 20,700 vehicles an hour, the Roads and Transport Authority said.

“The newly constructed bridges and roads provide access points to and from Deira Islands at the intersection of Al Khaleej and Abu Baker Al Siddique streets,” said Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the RTA. “The bridges span 2,571 metres in length.”

Deira Islands is an ambitious waterfront development which has been years in the making.

Developed by Nakheel, the project consists of four islands and will span 17 million square metres of the Deira coast.

The project is expected to attract 250,000 residents and will also have marinas, hotels and mixed-use buildings.

Traffic studies indicated that the project will generate about 110,000 journeys during peak hours, and requires a huge infrastructure network of roads and public-transport links.

The bridges leading to Deira Islands form a vital part of Al Shindagha Corridor Project. This stretches 13 kilometres along Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid, Al Mina and Al Khaleej roads and Cairo Street.

Al Shindagha Corridor project has been split into five sections, of which the first two have been completed.

These include upgrading the junction of Sheikh Rashid and Oud Metha roads (Wafi Junction), and the intersection between Sheikh Rashid Road and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street.

Work is under way on the third phase of the project, which will cover entry and exit points for Deira Islands at the intersection of Abu Baker Al Siddique Road.

The work will also include improvements on Corniche Street as well as the intersections at Al Khaleej and Falcon roads.

This phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

The project’s fourth phase will include bridges stretching 3.4km, tunnels that extend to 2.25km, six surface junctions and roads extending to 5.1km.

The fourth phase is due to be completed by the end of 2025.

The fifth and final phase covers bridges leading to the south of Deira Islands, extending to 1.5km.

This is expected to be completed by 2027.

The bridges improve access to the four islands from Al Khaleej and Abu Baker Al Siddique roads