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Dubai: Despite scepticism expressed by a senior traffic police official, the road toll will be in place from July 1, an official of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority confirmed.
A senior traffic police said last week that the road toll named Salik would further clog traffic rather than ease the flow.
However, an official at the Dubai Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) said that it would reduce traffic congestion by 25 per cent on the toll road.
"Dubai's road toll system will help reduce traffic by 25 per cent on the toll roads and encourage motorists to use alternative roads and public transport," said Engineer Maitha Obaid Bin Udai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Traffic and Roads Agency at the RTA. She said Salik will begin as planned in July, with initial toll points at Al Garhoud Bridge and at the Fourth Interchange near the Mall of the Emirates on Shaikh Zayed Road.
Alternatives
Elaborating her point, Maitha said that the toll system would not create traffic congestion.
"With the opening of the Business Bay Bridge with 13 lanes on the Dubai Creek and the expected opening of the Floating Bridge with six lanes, motorists will have more options to cross the Creek," she said.
She added Emirates Road will also have greater capacity since it is being expanded from six lanes to 12 lanes.
"The Floating Bridge alone is one of the major alternatives planned to reduce the strain on Dubai's road network and its users," Maitha said. She said the Floating Bridge has a capacity of 6,000 cars during peak hours and will reduce the traffic on Al Maktoum Bridge by 37 per cent.
She added the number of lanes over Dubai Creek will increase to 38 this year, and 45 in 2008 after the opening of the new Al Garhoud Bridge.
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