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.
England squad
Joe Root (captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (vice-captain), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Toby Roland-Jones, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
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Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
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The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
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The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
FINAL SCORES
Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs
(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)
Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs
(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)
Palestine and Israel - live updates
