Source: www.7daysindubai.com
The Roads and Transport Authority said Al Mamzar Toll Gate, situated before and after Al Mamzar Bridge, and the Airport Tunnel Toll Gate – situated at the northern entry and exist of the tunnel – will go live on April 15.
The announcement comes just weeks after the RTA said it was to charge taxis for passing through Salik gates.
The new gates are the third phase of the RTA’s Salik system, which charges drivers a fee to pass under the gate.
Mattar Al Tayer, RTA chairman and executive director, said: “The launch of Phase III of the Toll Gates System was made after conducting exhaustive traffic and field studies of the first and second phases, particularly after the lapse of more than one year since the operation of the Green Line of the Dubai Metro, and more than three years since the operation of the Red Line of the Dubai Metro.”
He added that the RTA had also looked at the increased network of public buses and improvements to Al Khail Road.
Al Tayer said: “The study also included examining the traffic congestions which are still being experienced by key roads in the emirate, and sorting out appropriate solutions and alternatives for them.”
He said studies show the introduction of Salik has reduced journey times on Sheikh Zayed Road by as much as 44 per cent, although no details how the studies were conducted were given.
However, Al Tayer added: “For instance the time of the trip northward on the Sheikh Zayed Road in the evening peak time from Dubai Marina to the Trade Centre has dropped from 34 minutes in 2007 before the operation of the initial stage of Salik to 19 minutes now.
“Salik has also succeeded in utilising the massive capacity of the Business Bay Crossing which was largely idle before the introduction of Salik, thus raising the utilization rate of this vital corridor from just 30 per cent in 2007 to 90 per cent at the moment.
“Salik has also succeeded in easing bottlenecks in Al Garhoud and Al Maktoum Bridges, thus the time needed to cross these bridges dropped from 20 minutes in 2007 to less than one minute at present.”
The RTA said the Airport Tunnel Toll Gate was being introduced to cope with the growth of passenger traffic at the airport. More info
