New Traffic Diversion On JBR Street Ahead Of Dubai Tram Launch

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) confirmed that it is currently executing the last traffic diversion on Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) Street ahead of the Dubai Tram launch in November.

The one-km-long diversion is expected to last for at least one month, and will cause the closure of the two lanes on both sides of the street, the RTA said. Traffic will be temporarily shifted to the service road.

Work currently underway will include three intersections at the JBR Street.

Engineer Maitha bin Udai, CEO of Traffic and Roads Agency, said, “The RTA’s priority is to ensure the highest degree of smooth traffic flow in the area, which requires the cooperation of visitors and motorists by observing and complying with road rules and following directional signs to avoid traffic snarls.”

She said they were looking to complete the work in the shortest possible time to minimise traffic jams.

“Work will be running daylong in the presence of a team of contractors and consultants ready for any emergency until the completion of the entire tram works.”

Slated to launch in November 2014, Dubai Tramway will serve the communities of the JBR, Dubai Marina and Al Sufouh.

It is being built in two phases. The initial phase of the project consists of a 10.6 km-long track starting from Dubai Marina and stretching up to the tram depot near Dubai Police Academy. It will include 17 passenger stations and a fleet of 11 trams.

In Phase II, 14 trams will be added to make a total of 25 operating trams, with the route extending to a total length of 14.6 kilometres.

The tramway will also be linked with the Dubai Metro at two stations via footpaths – Dubai Marina Station and Jumeirah Lakes Towers Station and to the Jumeirah Palm monorail with a footbridge.

It is expected to transport about 27,000 passengers per day at the start of operations in 2014, with the numbers anticipated to increase to 66,000 per day by 2020.

Trial operations of the Dubai Tram began on August 11.