Dubai opens 1,650-metre Al Khaleej Street Tunnel linking Infinity Bridge and Deira

The Al Khaleej Street Tunnel opened to traffic on 8 November, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced. The 1,650-metre tunnel carries three lanes each way and can handle 12,000 vehicles per hour. It starts where the Infinity Bridge ramp ends in Deira and finishes at the Al Khaleej Street and Al Wuheida Street junction.

The tunnel belongs to the Al Shindagha Corridor Improvement Project. The corridor stretches 13km along Sheikh Rashid Road, Al Mina Street, Al Khaleej Street and Cairo Street, and 15 intersections are due to be upgraded. The RTA expects that once the full project is finished, a trip along the corridor will take 16 minutes by 2030, down from the current 1 hour 44 minutes. About one million residents and visitors are expected to use it.

The RTA says the tunnel should ease movement through Abu Hail, Al Wuheida and Al Mamzar, and towards Dubai Islands, Waterfront Market and Al Hamriya Port. RTA Director General Mattar Al Tayer said the project would "strengthen connectivity" between homes, businesses and tourist sites.

The RTA will also replace the roundabouts at Cairo Street and Al Wuheida Street with signalled junctions. Further work covers Cairo Street and a link from the Dubai Islands bridge ramp into the new tunnel in the direction of Al Mamzar.

The authority is still building a separate 1,425-metre crossing over Dubai Creek, running from Infinity Bridge to the Port Rashid redevelopment area. It will have four lanes each way, a capacity of about 16,000 vehicles per hour, a clearance of 18.5 metres and a 75-metre navigation channel. A pedestrian and cycling track with two lifts is planned.

The RTA says about 2,200 people worked on the tunnel, with nearly 11 million work hours and no reported injuries. Some 77 per cent of the excavated material was reused. A mosaic of 36 million pieces, designed by Maryam Al Hathboor, depicts the Dubai skyline.

For people living in or moving to Deira, or driving to Al Mamzar and Dubai Islands, the tunnel gives a direct route from Infinity Bridge along Al Khaleej Street.

Gulf News reported the opening, and Khaleej Times carried the same figures from the RTA.