About 30 per cent of the work on the Dh404-million ($110 million) Airport Street interchanges improvement project in Dubai has been completed, said a senior official.

This project is part of a plan set by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for accommodating the projected growth in the number of passengers using the Dubai International Airport which is expected to shoot to 92 million passengers by 2020, remarked Mattar Al Tayer, its director general and chairman.

Work is progressing well on the first contract for the improvement of Airport Street which involves the construction of Rashidiya and Casablanca interchanges, remarked Al Tayer.

He was speaking after inspecting the work on the interchanges improvement project. Maitha bin Adai, CEO of Traffic and Roads Agency, Nabeel Mohammed Saleh, the director of roads as well as several officials at the RTA accompanied him.

"RTA has charted out a comprehensive plan for traffic diversions to ensure a smooth traffic flow. It has diverted traffic in both directions of Rashidiya Street, and work is currently progressing on bridge works and the shifting of the existing utility lines," remarked Al Tayer.

The work area has been fully separated by a high barrier to muffle the noise as much as possible from disturbing road users and residents of nearby areas, he added.

Working is on to complete the bridges at the intersections of Nad Al Hamar, Marrakech and Casablanca along with the shifting of utility lines.

"The project comprises the construction of bridges, a tunnel at the intersection of Marrakech, and bridges at the intersection of Rashidiya as well as the intersections of the Airport Stree with Casablanca Street and Nad Al Hamar Street. It also includes improving at-grade intersections, and constructing a service road of three lanes in each direction to separate the traffic movement from and to Nad Al Hamar Street from the vehicular flow on the Airport Street starting from Rashidiya Intersection up to Marrakech intersection," explained Al Tayer.

The project will contribute to increasing the capacity of the Airport Street by an additional 5,000 vehicles per hour. It will also enhance the traffic safety level and reduce the journey time on the Airport Street from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Stree to Casablanca Street from 30 minutes to five minutes.

"The improvement of Rashidiya Intersection comprises the construction of a bridge on the Airport Street of three lanes in each direction, which is expected to slash the waiting time at the interchange from 13 minutes to less than one minute," he stated.  

Al Tayer said the upgrading of the Airport Street-Nad Al Hamar Street intersection encompasses the construction of an additional bridge of two lanes in each direction to serve the traffic coming from Nad Al Hamar Street heading towards the Airport Street.

The project also includes the construction of a flyover of three lanes in each direction on the Airport Street along with a ramp stretching from the bridge directly to Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, bypassing the signal.

"A tunnel of two lanes in each direction is under construction to serve the left-bound traffic movement from the Airport Street to the direction of Marrakech Street, which reduces the waiting time at the junction from seven minutes to less than one minute," he added.-TradeArabia News Service