# Elevated Toll Road above Sheikh Zayed Road



## Emir of Ketir (Jan 27, 2005)

Okay - I have read somewhere that there are some plans to build an elevated toll road above Sheikh Zayed road. Honestly I have no clue what the current status of this project is.

But I bet you guys it will be announced within the next four weeks!

Traffic is currently the biggest problem Dubai faces. There are complaints from residents, businesses and tourists alike. I think Dubai Inc. knows that they need to act immdiately and that there is no room to wait for the Dubai Light Rail Project.


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## Bahraini Spirit (Dec 14, 2002)

It is a good idea, but imagine the traffic and the diversions that will take place during construction, you'll just love it.


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

above szr, this means szr will also become a toll road
i'm not sure this will solve the problem, people have to drive to work, there is no other way

it will just keep away people cruising for fun

the metro is the only way to relieve traffic effectively


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

No, no the study is for a new "pay-to-drive" elevated road build 7 meters above the existing SZR, which will remain a free road as it is.


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## Emir of Ketir (Jan 27, 2005)

Well, I doubt they will make SZR a toll road. This move would be very unpopular. My UAE friends say quote "Sheikh Zayed would personally kick them in the ass if he was still alive and a toll would go ahead on SZR." 
Dubai residents would view it as a rip-off, because its already been paid for etc. As you guys are familiar with local customs, I am sure you know its considered a basic right to just cruise around down there.

A new elevated toll road above SZR would probably be perceived as an added-value service. Those who want to move fast en route to Deira will pay the extra because they see as an alternative quicker option rather as an obligation. 

Have my doubts about semi-solutions like they have in Singapore, with certain lanes only for payers, because people would simply ignore it or you may have conflicts of who gets the priviledge to drive on it. 

However if they have seperate booth on entrance to the elevated road the system could work out fair and just.

Pretty convinced this project will go ahead soon.


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

A toll road in this situation is not to pay for the road,its to discourage people from using it. 
i.e. no unnececary journeys
or car pools, or taking the bus.


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## Emir of Ketir (Jan 27, 2005)

Sure. But try communicating this to Dubai's residents. They will just see the paying side of it, not the educational. A new road is required to justify the toll in local psychology.

Car Pools in UAE?


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## mafjar (Aug 2, 2004)

Emir of Ketir said:


> Okay - I have read somewhere that there are some plans to build an elevated toll road above Sheikh Zayed road. Honestly I have no clue what the current status of this project is.
> 
> But I bet you guys it will be announced within the next four weeks!
> 
> Traffic is currently the biggest problem Dubai faces. There are complaints from residents, businesses and tourists alike. I think Dubai Inc. knows that they need to act immdiately and that there is no room to wait for the Dubai Light Rail Project.



Dubai’s already growing skyline is set to be radically transformed by one of the most ambitious transport engineering schemes undertaken in the city to date. In an effort to reduce deteriorating traffic congestion, Dubai Municipality has proposed the construction of a 60-kilometre-long elevated three-lane dual-carriageway directly above Shaikh Zayed highway stretching from the bridges at Al-Maktoum and Al-Garhoud to the Abu Dhabi border. Two international consultants are understood to be in the running for the nine-month design study contract, with an award expected imminently 

The municipality is fast-tracking the multi-billion-dirham project as part of a plan to relieve traffic congestion in the city. The seven-metre-high road, which will take at least two years to build, is aimed at providing drivers with an express route through the city, and will have minimal entry and exit points. Users will have to pay a toll, although at a greater cost than the proposed tolls for the existing road underneath. 

No decision has yet been taken on how the project will be financed, although it is understood that all options, including a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, will be considered during the consultancy study. The construction of the project will itself lead to congestion as parts of Shaikh Zayed highway will almost certainly have to be closed at points during the construction process. 

It is the first time a project of such a scale will be undertaken in the Gulf, although similar schemes exist in other heavily congested cities such as Cairo. Dubai’s economic boom has resulted in increasingly gridlocked roads as its population soars, and transport infrastructure gets stretched to the limits. The planned elevated dual-carriageway will have to be built above the proposed light rail transit (LRT) system, which has also been designed to relieve congestion


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## Emir of Ketir (Jan 27, 2005)

Interesting 

Majfar: Source? Date? Thanks.

It seems the project is a little larger than anticipated. 60km - wow! In its design phase? I am sure Sh. Mo will instruct a "fast-tracking" soon.

The article points towards a toll on the existing SHR - really have my doubts, but it seems they are considering it.

A sensible move would be to combine the elevated toll road with the light rail project for the length of the SZR..pretty sure they are already doing this.


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

wow
interesting facts!

when both the metro and the toll road will be constructed at the same time and as some areas of szr will be closed we will definitely have the worst traffic chaos this planet has ever seen, but after these projects have been finished it should be very comfortable


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## Krazy (Apr 27, 2004)

Does anybody remember this Dh 450 million Ras Al Khor Bridge which we heard about a year back? The bridge was supposed to start from the first interchange and extend all the way to the Airport (15 km). Whats the status on this one?


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## fahed (Nov 10, 2004)

I know Dubai resisdents that are willing to pay to get a fast ride, but they don't want radars on the elevated road :sleepy:


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## mafjar (Aug 2, 2004)

Krazy said:


> Does anybody remember this Dh 450 million Ras Al Khor Bridge which we heard about a year back? The bridge was supposed to start from the first interchange and extend all the way to the Airport (15 km). Whats the status on this one?



They just awarded contract to build the bridge, but they are having to redesign surrounding area to fit into Business Bay. So expect work to start soon,


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## elfreako (Mar 7, 2004)

YUCK!!! An elevated toll-expressway would be SOOOOO UUUGGGLLLLYYY! Have any of you been to Cairo or Bangkok? The elevated roads there have totally destroyed the urban fabric of those two great cities. Egyptian planners have actually realised the costly mistake they made during the 80's building these ugly concrete flyovers and any new express roadworks are to be built underground from now on. 

Studies on urban road traffic around the world have demonstrated consistently that building new roads just attracts more traffic. It's a never ending problem. Believe me, I live in Perth, which has the highest amount of roads per capita in the world and it ain't the solution. 

The Dubai metro network project needs to be pushed forward more agressively.


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## Emir of Ketir (Jan 27, 2005)

I agree. 

I don't see an alternative for Dubai though. Traffic probelms currently seriously impair Dubai's development and the Light Rail Project is technically a challenging undertaking compared to an elevated road.


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

well, give it a stunning design and it will be acceptable


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

i have a soloution.
petrol rationing. only a set volume of petol per month. if you have an efficient car you can go far. if you have a merc or a landcruiser, im afraid you may need some walking boots 

im think we'll see a lot of people getting verry angry and being confused.:wtf: 

it is a solution. but dubai could never pull somthing like this off.


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## KuwaitLover (Feb 12, 2005)

From what I gather Shaikh Mo is behind this scheme, much to DM's annoyance. They have no choice but to go ahead with it. 

The elevated road will be an express way with no more than five or six exits. In other words, it is designed to bypass many of the areas surrounding Shaikh Zayed road. 

The question is how they are going to integrate the project with the LRT because believe me the four groups bidding for the light rail had no idea about the elevated road until the story came out (in MEED I believe) a couple of weeks ago. They will certainly have to close down SZR for some time to build this baby.

By the way, it's going to cost $1.5 billion.


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

so, can you officially confirm the toll road above szr is approved?

it could be a setback for the metro in case of cheaper fees for the express way.
the metro has to be cheaper than the toll road, otherwise nobody will use public transport


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## KuwaitLover (Feb 12, 2005)

As you know Shaikh Mo is behind it, so it is likely to go ahead whether it is feasible or not (not IMHO). 

It will be designed for slightly longer commutes than the LRT and because it has less exits be more of a way to get from say Deira to Jebel Ali rather than points in between.

As the article mentioned there are two int. consultants who are bidding for the design contract and who have already made a presentation to DM. A contract award would be a pretty good signal that the scheme would go ahead.


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

what do you think how long would you need to go from deira to jebel ali compared to the metro?

the toll road might have a handful of exits, a speed limit of 120km/h and a guaranteed jam-free traffic flow (deira to jebel ali = 20min?)

the metro has dozens of stations on its way. you'll lose a lot of time and it is predestined the metro will be crowded (deira to jebel ali = 35min?)

what is more comfortable for you: crowded metro and a few more minutes to go with the metro, but more comfortable as more stations, closer to your destination. metro might be cheaper than toll road?

it's still difficult to say which commuting opportunity is more feasible for the people concerning time and money.

one thing is for sure, otherwise it won't work. the metro must be cheaper, if not everybody will keep up driving and the metro was a bad investment


in the end i'm sure these 3 possibilities will work together quite well (metro, toll road & szr) [and there still is emirates road]


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

ok this project has annoyed me enough. its useless.
where are you going to go on this road, anywhere downtown is out of the question. way too much traffic. new dubai also, will have far too much traffic, and im guessing the waterfront will be the same. so we will have a verry fast road to take you between them resulting in huge traffic jams at the exits. if its for people trying to go through dubai, ie abu dhabi/ jebal ali - the northern emirates, then they should use the bypass being planned around the back of dubailand.
cars will be useless in 15 years time anyway. it will be one big traffic jam. an elevated road also goes against dubais principle of making everything 'look good'. it would destroy szr, as a residential locality.who wants an apartment next to a big double decker highway. [probably 500% more noise as it will reverberate between the road decks].

if it was down to me idhave a 20 dhs a day road toll for anyone using the roads. this should cut down on unnececary journeys.[personaly id put it at 45dhs but this would probably be rejected] 
then use the mone to build another express metro parallel to the planned one, which needs drastic expansion.


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## ahmedr (Feb 1, 2004)

totally agree with raptor.


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## Aloosh (Jan 24, 2005)

lets hope it doesnt turn into a newyork trafic jam


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## Krazy (Apr 27, 2004)

^ Its already almost as bad!


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## SkyFan (Feb 5, 2005)

I'm trying to picture how this elevated road is going to look like!
Are there any similar roads out there that we can see pictures of?


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

plans have not yet been finalised, so i think it's still a proposal and renders don't seem to exist
we even don't have press releases


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

i say we launch a paramilitary ssc campaign against it !!!!


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## Jue (Mar 28, 2003)

Double-decker highways are not necessarily hideous; Shanghai's road network does not hinder the urban fabric that much. It may look slightly uglier, but why does it matter if: 1. The original highway is not pedestrian-friendly anyway, and 2. The view out of a high-rise window does not change just because the road is 8m higher. As for road noise, we are used to it here. 

However, most importantly, it does no good to build more roadways if the root cause of traffic is not tackled, that of too many automobiles.


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## Trances (May 19, 2003)

heaps of elavated roads in BKK, seen the Shanghai one too
agree this will just make more traffic but in Dubai there is really no other choice i mean they need to the road network to an acceptable level which it still is far from


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

its been postponed indefinatly!

Horray!


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## DarkBlueBoss (Mar 3, 2005)

i think its a very bad idea, cause its not gonna serve the purpose it will be made for ( i think there will be traffic up there too) 

and guys picture this (High way, one level up + Car Crash rate in dubai) hmmm. . . 

anyway, there were plans to build to more more roads which are parallel to al khail road and SZR, and supposed to be complete by summer next year , that is a more sensible plan i think, 

and the metro is a great idea . . will help alot


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## Trances (May 19, 2003)

cool well thats good it was not a good option
my sister has aparment on level 5 would have not helped her view at all


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