Dubai bans truck movement on Emirates Road during evening peak hours
Dubai authorities have placed a moratorium on the traffic of trucks using Emirates Road during night peak time 5.30pm-8pm.
New restrictions start January 1st 2025 and apply to the area between Al Awir Street and Sharjah.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said the move is part of its plans to "extend the truck movement ban on major roads in Dubai".
"This will improve traffic, congestion and the road capacity for private vehicles on the planned streets, and increase the standards of road safety in the emirate," the agency said.
As of April 2024, the RTA also extended the truck movement prohibition to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road during morning and evening rush hours. This is also now being taken over to Emirates Road for Sharjah.
No moving trucks are allowed on the main Dubai streets like Al Ittihad Street and Meydan Street. Other streets such as Sheikh Zayed Road and roads in residential neighbourhoods around Sharjah, Al Mizhar, Al Muhaisnah and Oud Al Muteena are closed for 16 hours from 6am to 10pm.
Heavy-traffic urban areas are limited to truck traffic in the morning and at night. These are Airport, Oman and Damascus streets, closed from 6.30am-8.30am; 1pm-3pm, 5.30pm-8pm.
Major-General Saif Muhair Al Mazrouei, acting assistant commandant for Operations Affairs at Dubai Police, explained: "The prohibition on truck movement on Emirates Road to Sharjah at evening peak hours was based on detailed research into the engineering and technical standards that are needed to reconcile safety concerns with traffic requirements.
Among the measures included delaying traffic movement for trucks at certain times on Emirates Road, especially in the evenings when traffic is high. The key is to avoid traffic collisions from truck-to-car-overlap and congestion on key roads.
According to the officer, the police are working with the RTA to notify truck drivers and transport firm owners of the new restriction times. He insisted on observing these schedules so as not to be fined or otherwise penalised.
Police have received 792 offences in 2018 on the grounds of non-observance of truck movement ban hours. "This new policy on Emirates Road will ensure the traffic environment becomes safer and smoother. The vision of the initiative can be carried out without affecting logistics or the economy, with the cooperation and dedication of truck drivers and transport operator owners."
The ban will help make Emirates Road safer and redirect trucks to new directions," Hussain Al Banna, CEO Traffic and Roads Agency, RTA said. "Military and traffic signals will be positioned in the beginning and end of the restricted zone, along with media releases, ads on platforms, social media outreach, and multilingual radio announcements on local radio stations," said a news release.
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