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Dubai: From July next year, motorists using Shaikh Zayed Road and Al Garhoud Bridge will have to pay toll, the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority announced.
As part of the first phase of the introduction of traffic tariff or toll system in Dubai, the stretch of Shaikh Zayed Road starting from the Mall of Emirates to Al Garhoud Bridge will be the toll-controlled area.
Motorists crossing Al Garhoud Bridge or entering Shaikh Zayed Road from the Fourth Interchange (near Mall of the Emirates) will be charged Dh4 per entry. It will be on both directions.
“The main objective of implementing toll in this area is to ease the traffic congestion and make motorists use alternate routes,” said Engineer Maitha Obaid Bin Udai, Chief Executive Officer of the Traffic and Roads Agency at the RTA.
She said that people should not be scared of this system because there were no plans to implement tolls on other Dubai roads before alternate modes of public transportation including Dubai Metro, public buses and water transport were available.
Engineer Maitha also said there was no immediate plan to install toll gates on roads connecting Dubai and Sharjah.
She told a press conference yesterday that alternate routes including Al Khail Road, Emirates Road, Dubai Outer bypass Road, Al Wasl and Jumeirah roads will be available for motorists who do not want to pay toll.
To avoid Garhoud Bridge, motorists can use Al Maktoum Bridge, Al Shindagha Tunnel, the Floating Bridge (to be opened in July) and the Fourth Crossing (Ras Al Khor Bridge to be opened in March next year near Festival City).
Motorists will not have to stop to pay the toll. They will have to purchase pre-paid cards and fix machine-readable-stickers n the car windscreen. Toll charges will be deducted from their cards every time they pass under the electronic gates fitted with scanners.
These toll cards will be available in Dubai and other emirates in the UAE and can also be ordered online.
Maitha said that the RTA has hired consultants to study roads where toll system is needed. “It will be implemented in phases over the next few years,” she said.
Read Gulf News on Thursday for full coverage and reaction to the RTA’s toll road plan.
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