The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai, UAE, said it has started work on seven new footbridges across the emirate which will be ready by the first half of 2016.

Of these, two footbridges will come up on Baghdad Street and one each at Al Maktoum Road, Al Mina Street, Amman Road, Baniyas Road and Al Rasheed Road, said a statement from RTA.
 
The RTA said it has already completed the construction of 22 pedestrian bridges over the past two years and once these seven get ready, the total number of the footbridges in Dubai will rise to 107.

Mattar Al Tayer, the chairman of the board and executive director, pointed out that the construction of pedestrian bridges stems from the RTA’s commitment to provide safe transit means for pedestrians crossing roads.

"The new bridges to be constructed in a number of vital locations are selected in the light of traffic studies based on a number of perimeters such as traffic intensity, number of accidents and fatalities, maximum speed limit, number of lanes, population density on roadsides, distance to the nearest footbridge, location of bus stops, availability of markets & organizations, and locations witnessing high proportion of run-over accidents (Black Points)," he explained.

According to him, the number of pedestrian bridges in Dubai has soared from 14 bridges in 2006 to 74 in 2011 and jumped further to reach 100 bridges by the end of 2014.

These bridges, he stated, have contributed to a sharp drop in cases of pedestrian fatalities on Dubai roads over 20 years.

"Statistics indicate pedestrian fatalities dropped from 9.5 fatalities per 100,000 of population in 2007 to 7 fatalities per 100,000 of population in 2010 and dropped further in 2014 to its lowest rate of one fatality per 100,000 of population," he added.-TradeArabia News Service