The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai is set to open the second phase of the Parallel Roads Improvement Project at the Business Bay.

Under Phase II, the western part of the parallel roads between Al Meydan and Financial Streets was enhanced by expanding from three to four lanes in each direction and constructing service roads in most sections.

RTA chairman and director-general Mattar Al Tayer said: “Phase 2 covered the construction of a 240m flyover on the intersection of Al Sa’ada and Burj Khalifa Boulevard Streets, a 535m underpass at the intersection of Al Sa’ada and the Business Bay Streets, and a 500m bridge along the extension of Al Sa’ada Street crossing over the Dubai Water Canal.”

“The project is expected to improve traffic flow on the Sheikh Zayed Road and ease traffic congestion on the Al Sa’ada Street from Financial Center and Al Meydan Streets.”

He added that the programme also included the construction of a 420m bridge at the intersection of Al Meydan and First Al Khail Streets, as well as a 420m tunnel to enable left turns onto Meydan Street from Al Sa’ada Street.

The project is expected to improve traffic flow on the Sheikh Zayed Road and ease traffic congestion on the Al Sa’ada Street from Financial Center and Al Meydan Streets.

The Phase I of the project was opened in November.

Overall, the project is expected to reduce traffic congestion by 15% on Sheikh Zayed Road between the first and second interchanges with the additional junctions at the Business Bay and Burj Khalifa Districts.

The upgrade is also expected to improve the intake of the road to nearly 20,000 vehicles per hour in both directions.

Furthermore, it is expected to reduce journey time between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Street from 12 to 2.5 minutes.