Dubai's RTA awarded a contract for widening and improving the entrances to the Mall of the Emirates and nearby regions

A contract to enlarge and upgrade the Mall of the Emirates entrances as well as the nearby roadways and junctions has been given by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The project, estimated to cost Dh165 million, also includes bike and pedestrian lane upgrades. 

An isolated lane spanning 300 meters above Sheikh Zayed Road provides direct access to the Mall of the Emirates parking lots.

The project involves the construction of a 300-meter bridge on Sheikh Zayed Road with a single lane, providing direct access to the Mall of the Emirates parking lots for motorists coming from Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali as stated by Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA. In order to make it easier for cars to get from Umm Suqeim Street to the present bridge that leads to the parking lots of the mall, the current ramp at the Umm Suqeim crossroads will also be enlarged southward.

The 2.5 km of surface roads that surround the mall will be improved, three signalised surface intersections will be built, the bus station at the Mall of the Emirates Metro Station will be changed, the one-way street next to the Kempinski Hotel will be changed to a two-way street, and pedestrian and bicycle lanes will be improved. Al Tayer said that these upgrades also include landscaping, asphalt, lighting, traffic signals, and rainfall drainage systems.

The project will slash the average travel time from 10 minutes to only one minute for vehicles heading to the Mall of the Emirates from Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali. Additionally, it would cut the time it takes for drivers to go from Umm Suqeim from 15 to 8 minutes, improving both traffic flow and safety on the roads that surround the mall, said Al Tayer.