Dubai Activates Six-Lane Al Khaleej Street Tunnel Arabian Post

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Arabian Post Staff -Dubai

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) opened the 1,650-metre Al Khaleej Street Tunnel on Sunday, creating a new route between Infinity Bridge and Deira with capacity for 12,000 vehicles an hour.

The tunnel has three lanes in each direction and runs from the end of the Infinity Bridge ramp in Deira to the junction of Al Khaleej Street and Al Wuheida Street. It is designed to allow uninterrupted movement in both directions, improving connections towards Al Mamzar and neighbouring residential and commercial districts.

The opening represents a further operational stage of the Al Shindagha Corridor Improvement Project, a major road development programme intended to address congestion and accommodate growth in established neighbourhoods and new developments along Dubai's waterfront.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the RTA's board of executive directors, said the tunnel would improve connectivity between residential communities, commercial centres and visitor destinations. The authority expects the additional road capacity to support traffic moving through Deira, particularly along routes serving Abu Hail, Al Wuheida and Al Mamzar.

Associated works include replacing roundabouts on Cairo Street and Al Wuheida Street with signal-controlled junctions, introducing traffic improvements along Cairo Street and linking the Dubai Islands bridge ramp to the new tunnel towards Al Mamzar. These changes are intended to organise traffic entering and leaving the corridor rather than simply increase capacity along the tunnel itself.

The wider Al Shindagha programme covers 13 kilometres along Sheikh Rashid Road, Al Mina Street, Al Khaleej Street and Cairo Street. It includes improvements to 15 intersections and is expected to serve approximately one million people across residential communities, commercial areas and waterfront developments.

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The RTA estimates that completion of the full corridor programme will reduce a journey currently taking one hour and 44 minutes to approximately 16 minutes by 2030. That forecast applies to the broader corridor improvements, not to a measured reduction attributable solely to the newly opened tunnel.

The corridor serves developments including Dubai Islands, Dubai Maritime City and Port Rashid, alongside established destinations such as Waterfront Market and Al Hamriya Port. Improved access to these locations is among the transport authority's stated objectives, with road links required to accommodate both everyday journeys and commercial traffic.

Construction of the tunnel involved nearly 11 million working hours, with the RTA reporting no injuries during the project. Around 2,200 engineers, technicians and workers participated, supported by approximately 350 pieces of heavy and light equipment and machinery deployed across the construction sites.

The authority also reported that about 522,000 cubic metres of excavated material, representing 77 per cent of the material removed during construction, was reused in projects undertaken by the RTA and other organisations. The figure highlights the scale of excavation required to build the underground route within a heavily developed urban area.

The tunnel opened during the fourth quarter of 2026, the completion window identified by the RTA when it announced in May that construction had reached 80 per cent. At that stage, 14 teams were working around the clock on excavation support and other activities to maintain the approved schedule.

The project follows the completion of corridor works on the Bur Dubai side, while other links associated with the broader programme remain under development. The authority has also outlined a separate bridge connecting Dubai Islands with Bur Dubai, intended to improve connections across Dubai Creek.

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The planned Dubai Islands connection comprises a 1,425-metre bridge with four lanes in each direction and a stated combined capacity of 16,000 vehicles an hour. RTA plans a pedestrian and cycling track alongside the road carriageways. The structure is designed to rise 18.5 metres above Dubai Creek, leaving a navigational channel 75 metres wide for marine traffic. The authority has also specified lifts to provide access to the walking and cycling facilities, together with connecting roads on both banks. This bridge remains a separate project from the tunnel opening.

The new tunnel incorporates a public artwork under the Dubai Tunnels initiative. Its walls feature a depiction of Dubai's skyline inspired by the illustration style used on banknotes, created from 35 million mosaic pieces.

Emirati artist Maryam Al Hathboor designed the installation, which introduces a distinctive visual treatment to the tunnel's interior. The artwork forms part of an initiative to integrate artistic features into transport infrastructure while retaining the tunnel's primary function as a road connection.

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