| Work Detail |
The Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that Phase 1 of the Dubai Master Plan for ‘Soft Mobility’, which will cover the residential districts of Karama, Mankhool, and Al Qusais 1, will be completed by March 2020.
Under the initial phase of the project, Dubai’s RTA constructed 314 elevated pedestrian crossings and 66 speed-calming devices.
The RTA also added 2,000 directional and cautionary signs; adjusted 77,000m2 of pavements; and built 21 rest areas and 7 shaded routes.
In addition, the government entity designated shared pedestrian and biking lanes extending 33 km, as well as shared routes for vehicles and non-motorized flexible transit means extending 52km.
The project also involves the launch of ‘Friendly Safe Streets’, a concept that envisages the introduction of safe school zones, implementing speed-calming devices, and safe crossings for pedestrians and cyclists at junctions together with seamless pavements.
Dubai’s RTA has also increased landscaped and shaded areas to ensure smooth and integrated mobility in Dubai.
Project works will continue in 2020 and 2021 in the Barsha 1 and 2, Bateen, Baraha, Ras, Al Qusais 2, and Al Qusais Industrial areas.
Commenting on the the Dubai Master Plan for ‘Soft Mobility’, the director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai’s RTA, HE Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, said: “The Soft Mobility Plan aims to develop a user-friendly and integrated transport infrastructure aimed at linking urban developments and catchment areas.”
Al Tayer added: “The plan envisages the use of non-conventional transit means such as walking and cycling as well as the use of electric scooters. It addresses first and last-mile challenges by providing an infrastructure that supports the integration of mobility such as the construction of cycling tracks, pedestrian crossings and rest areas, shaded paths, landscaped areas, parking for rented cars, and bike racks.”
Dubai’s RTA has also commissioned a comprehensive car-free mobility study in Dubai, which is focused on providing an infrastructure suitable for relatively long- and medium-journeys.
It sets a strategy for promoting the use of non-motorised transport modes, people-friendly infrastructure, and fostering an accessible environment for people of determination within the right-of-way.
It also aims to connect various city components by easing mobility between developed and catchment areas. |
