Bypass Salik gates using this interchange
UPGRADED INTERCHANGE WILL HELP MOTORISTS AVOID NEW GATE
Motorists from Jebel Ali Free Zone and the adjoining areas can now get direct access to Mohammad Bin Zayed Road — bypassing Salik gates and traffic on Shaikh Zayed Road — as phase one of the upgraded seventh interchange along with Al Yalayis and Al Asayel roads opened for traffic yesterday.
The upgrade, with new access roads and exits, will particularly help motorists avoid the new Salik Gate set to open on October 24.
The Dh1.2 billion upgrade is part of the parallel roads project designed to divert traffic off Shaikh Zayed Road (SZR) and feed it to Al Asayel Road, Al Khail Road, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, Shaikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Road and Emirates Road through Al Yalayis road.
It will also boost movement of goods from and to Jebel Ali Port, while providing additional entry and exit points for communities such as Al Furjan, Discovery Gardens and Jebel Ali Development Project.
“The projects will step up the capacity of Al Yalayis Road to almost 20,000 vehicles per hour in both directions. They will also cut short transit time between the Seventh Interchange and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road to four minutes,” said Mattar Al Tayer, ■ Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA.
Besides enhancing Yalayis Road’s capacity, the upgrade will spike combined capacity of parallel roads to 12,000 vehicles per hour in both directions.
Construction work on the Seventh Interchange Project is being carried out in two phases. Phase One, which opened yesterday, improves traffic flow from and to SZR and Al Yalayis Road eastward.
Phase Two will improve traffic flow from SZR to Dubal Street in both directions, and is scheduled to open in the last quarter of this year.
The project also comprises the construction of a bridge of four lanes branching out of Al Yalayis Road into two bridges of two lanes, each at a capacity of 3,000 vehicles per hour. The first one is bound to Jebel Ali and the other one leads to Dubal street and Jebel Ali Port.
It also includes improving the right-side turn to make three lanes at a capacity of 3,600 vehicles per hour stretching out of the Shaikh Zayed Road to Al Yalayis road in the east.