A new road lane to improve traffic flow between Sharjah and Dubai has been welcomed by residents who regularly commute between the two emirates.
The new lane on Sharjah’s Al Taawun bridge opened on Monday and aims to ease congestion in the area.
The new addition means traffic can now flow along three lanes instead of two, when exiting the bridge.
The bottleneck would cause a 20-minute delay every day. The new lane will shorten my journey and it should ease traffic flow
Asim Abdulrahman,
Sharjah resident
Motorists driving from Dubai into Sharjah during peak hours would often face long queues owing to bottlenecking on Al Taawun bridge towards Al Taawun’s roundabout.
Traffic coming from two major motorways — Al Ittihad Road and Mohamed bin Zayed road in Dubai — would cause a major build-up on the bridge because many residents work in Dubai and live in Sharjah owing to its lower rents.
Previously, the four-lane road filtered into just two lanes as traffic tried to exit the bridge.
The Roads and Transport Authority in Sharjah carried out the upgrades to increase traffic capacity.
For Asim Abdulrahman, an Egyptian resident in Sharjah who works close to Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, the new addition to the bridge has been long awaited.
He uses the bridge to reach his apartment in Al Taawun, but said he would often get caught in heavy traffic.
“[I use the bridge] almost every day to reach my apartment. It takes between 45 minutes to an hour to reach home due to constant traffic jams on the Al Taawun bridge,” he said.
“The bottleneck would cause a 20-minute delay every day.
“The new lane will shorten my journey and it should ease traffic flow.”
He said many drivers would switch lanes at the last minute and join traffic in the two filter lanes, which would result in bottlenecking.
In July this year, the 35-year-old graphic designer said he was thrilled to see roadworks being carried out to widen the road.
“I was thrilled when I noticed the construction work happening as I felt it would bring an end to the misery of a long commute,” he said.
“Traffic has been smoother [this week] thanks to the improvements.”
Mohammad Riad, a 46-year-old Indian resident who lives in the Al Khan area of Sharjah and works in Dubai, praised the addition of the new lane, especially as schools prepare to reopen later this month.
“Al Taawun bridge is a key access point for many routes and it is usually busy with school buses and motorists,” he said.
“The new [lane] will boost traffic movement. It was a smart move to work on it during the summer break as there is less traffic on the roads.
“Traffic caused so much anxiety to drivers as well as minor accidents. After a long day of work, we would love to have a relaxing ride back home rather than worry about traffic jams ahead.”
Sharjah's Roads and Transport Authority said the upgrade was in line with efforts to boost traffic management.
“The added lane is 450 metres long towards Al Taawun roundabout near Expo Sharjah.
"It is in line with the authority strategy to improve the roads network in the emirate. It will boost the traffic movement and bridge capacity in peak hours,” the authority told The National.
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Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
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Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
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THE SPECS
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The biog
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