Dubai: Sharjah residents commuting to Dubai who chose not to enter the toll zone in Al Garhoud were surprised when they discovered alternative routes or free exits were clear too.
What takes commuters over an hour-and-a-half to travel toward Shaikh Zayed Road to and from Sharjah via the Emirates Road, took just 45 to 50 minutes.
But those taking the Mamzar route via Shindagha to reach destinations in Dubai were not that lucky and had to endure massive traffic congestion.
"This is because the majority of Sharjah motorists made use of this route," said Vishwas Patel, a Hor Al Anz resident.
There were also motorists who encountered slight congestion on Al Ittihad Road up to Airport Road where the majority of motorists were heading towards the Clock Tower roundabout, a free exit. There was easy traffic flow along Maktoum bridge in the direction of Deira.
All routes congested near Al Barsha
Areas around Al Barsha and Dubai Media City saw heavy traffic congestion. Around 8am yesterday, heavy traffic on both sides of Al Barsha overpass caused congestion, with many cars spotted without the orange Salik tags on their windscreens.
During the morning rush hour, a long queue of cars and trucks was seen at the last free exit before the toll gate at the Mall of the Emirates. Around 8.30am, Shaikh Zayed Road towards Abu Dhabi was practically empty.
Slow and steady was the route from Jumeirah to Dubai Marina, on Jumeirah Road, as it is one of only a few alternative routes to Shaikh Zayed Road.
Throughout yesterday, traffic jams increased on Al Wasl and Jumeirah Roads and behind Mall of the Emirates. Victoria Burns, a Briton in her 20s, described the roads around The Greens as "a complete nightmare".
Clear roads to Business Bay
The drive from Beirut Road to Business Bay Bridge towards Shaikh Zayed Road around 9.30am was too good to be true - the road was clear.
Normally at this time traffic on Beirut Road creeps ahead at a snail's pace because most traffic coming from Sharjah tried to avoid the bottlenecks on Al Ittihad Road by taking Beirut Road.
On other days, shortcuts did the trick to avoid Beirut Road and the endless traffic jams. But yesterday was different - there was no congestion at the beginning of the road, but would it be as clear on the approach to the interchanges? Would the drive toward Airport Tunnel be clear?
Well, it was not crowded at all. The drive to the Gulf News office on Shaikh Zayed Road via the Business Bay Bridge which was as clear as the roads that had Salik toll gates took just 37 minutes.
with additional inputs by Eman Mohammad and Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporters
