Dubai Metro Blue Line: Road closure announced as construction work gathers pace

A key road will be closed and traffic diverted in Dubai International Academic City as construction work for the Blue Line rail project begins.

The emirate's Roads and Transport Authority on Monday said 63rd Street – near the German International School – would be shut in both directions to allow for roadworks relating to the Dubai Metro Blue Line.

The RTA said alternative exit and entry points to access the private school, which serves more than 900 pupils, would be provided.

Drivers are advised to plan trips in advance and make use of alternative routes while the work is being carried out.

The RTA did not say how long the roadworks in the area would take to complete.

The transport authority on Tuesday alerted motorists over traffic diversions being introduced in the Mirdif area due to Blue Line work.

It said the roundabout junction between 5th and 8th streets near City Centre Mirdif would be closed, with a diversion in place. This will also be the case in the opposite direction, from 8th to 5th towards Algeria Street.

An alternative access road will be provided for City Centre Mirdif mall visitors, the authority added, with an available U-turn in place for residents near Ghoroob Square.

Academic City is the emirate's leading education hub. Established in 2007, it is home to a wide variety of universities, schools, learning centres and other educational centres that support more than 28,000 learners.

What is the Dubai Metro Blue Line?

The Blue Line is scheduled to open in September 2029, marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of Dubai Metro.

The Dh20.5 billion ($5.58 billion) project will include 14 new stations, connect with the existing Green and Red lines, and serve expanding neighbourhoods such as Mirdif, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Creek Harbour and Dubai International City.

It will add 30km to the Metro network, 15.5km of which will be underground. When complete, the network will be 131km long with 78 stations served by 168 trains.

The public transport drive is central to the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, which has easier commuting among its priorities.

Dubai's RTA said the Blue Line would connect five principal urban regions – Bur Dubai/Deira, Downtown/Business Bay, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Marina/JBR and Expo City Dubai.

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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