Comments on: Discovery Gardens ENOC Station roundabout proposal

By: James

James — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 07:18:14 +0000

Gents
That roundabout is ridiculously small – built many years ago when there were far less people living in the area. How hard would it be to make the roundabout into two lanes and add on each side of the ramp going up to the bridge? That way we could have two lanes of traffic heading up and down in each direction. So we cannot widen the bridge but at least traffic over could flow without really having to deal with the vehicles coming from AD, just force that flow into one lane and the traffic from Dubai can have the second lane. Another logical alternative would be to construct a tunnel (as not to disrupt traffic flow) under SZR to the Dubai side of the Ibn gate hotel so we have a third ingress into the Gardens.

By: Matthew Jackson

Matthew Jackson — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 04:57:05 +0000

Danny,

You are correct, it is that area you’re talking about. I know the area under the viaduct but I have seen the Police stopping vehicles that use that shortcut as they join SZR at the back of the metro where there is also a slip road for the Ibn Battuta Mall.

You’re also right in saying that they will not widen the bridge, it’s crazy as the volume of traffic coming in and out of the Gardens is huge. I’m not particularly affected by it as I leave very early in the morning to Abu Dhabi but I know my wife gets caught up in it. At the moment the Mosque has been knocked down and is not being used for Friday prayers but when it is in use Friday is a no go area for at least an hour due to the vehicles parked in and around the roundabout.

By: Danny McLaughlin

Danny McLaughlin — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 22:37:07 +0000

Matthew

To clarify, I reckon you are referring to the bit of road past the petrol station close to Ibn Batutta Gate that is an exit point mainly for the Gardens area and Jebel Ali Village.

Not that I have ever done this of course, but as you come from the Gardens / Discovery Gardens with the petrol station on your left and the “Gate” on your right – instead of turning left into the congestion at the traffic signal, you could go straight ahead, follow the road around the bend at the back of the Ibn Batutta Gate hotel then take a left across the rough ground under the Metro Viaduct and join SZR there. If you are coming from Abu Dhabi, I often see drivers reversing the process to avoid the long wait on the up ramp up to the first of the roundabouts towards the petrol station.

I think the engineering of the brige over SZR from the DEWA / Oasis plants means that we are unlikely to see any road widening anytime soon if ever. It would be better to build a small official slip road in the place I refer to above to ease the burden on the junction you mention. It is clear from the painted out roadsign just before the petrol station, that that was once part of the original road from Jebel Ali to Dubai.