RTA to open final World Trade Centre roundabout bridge

Dubai, UAE - Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is due to open the last of five bridges in its World Trade Centre Roundabout Development Project on Friday, 30 October 2026, a two-lane, 1,000-metre structure built to carry about 3,000 vehicles an hour.

The new link serves traffic heading from Al Majlis Street to 2nd December Street. RTA said it will cut that trip from six minutes to one at one of the city’s main intersections.

Once it opens, the authority will have finished all of the project’s major works. The scheme has cost more than $189.5 million (AED 696 million) and delivered five bridges measuring 5,000 metres in total.

Mattar Al Tayer, RTA’s Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, said: “The completion of the World Trade Centre Roundabout Development Project is in line with the directives of the wise leadership to continue upgrading Dubai’s road infrastructure, improve traffic flow on Sheikh Zayed Road and enhance connectivity between the emirate’s leading economic and commercial centres.

“The project will also increase road network capacity to keep pace with Dubai’s rapid population, urban and economic growth, reinforce its global leadership in business, investment and tourism, and provide an integrated, sustainable mobility system that reinforce the emirate’s competitiveness, facilitates travel for residents and visitors, and enhances quality of life.”

Al Tayer added: “The World Trade Centre Roundabout Development Project is one of Dubai’s strategic road network projects, given its vital location on Sheikh Zayed Road, the emirate’s main traffic artery, and its role in linking key road corridors with key economic, commercial and residential areas.

“These include Dubai World Trade Centre, which hosts major international exhibitions, conferences and events, and Dubai International Financial Centre, one of the world’s leading financial centres, alongside surrounding areas that experience heavy traffic throughout the day.

“The project will deliver a major improvement in traffic flow through free-flowing connections in multiple directions, stronger links between Sheikh Zayed Road and surrounding key streets, and a reduction in average delay at the intersection from 12 minutes to 90 seconds. These improvements will facilitate access to key destinations and benefit more than 500,000 residents and tourists.”

According to Al Tayer, the roundabout scheme complements the Al Mustaqbal Street Development Project, where he said work is moving quickly. He described the two as parts of a single approach to upgrading the district’s main road corridors: tying business centres and areas of economic activity more closely together, and making the network more efficient, with room for traffic to grow in future.

Due to finish in 2027, the Al Mustaqbal Street scheme has 1,500 metres of bridges and tunnels and will widen the road to four lanes each way. RTA said this lifts its capacity by 33% and shortens the journey from 13 minutes to six, adding to the gains from the roundabout project along one of Dubai’s busiest corridors.

The World Trade Centre Roundabout is where Sheikh Zayed Road meets five main streets: Al Majlis Street, Za’abeel Palace Street, 2nd December Street, Sheikh Rashid Street and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street.

RTA turned the old roundabout into an at-grade intersection and built the five bridges, 5,000 metres in all, over it. According to the authority, they give free-flowing traffic in every direction, connect the major corridors more closely, add capacity at the junction and make journeys easier between the commercial and residential districts around it.

One is a 1,000-metre, two-lane bridge on the second level, running from Sheikh Zayed Road to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street in the direction of Deira, with room for 3,000 vehicles an hour.

Sheikh Rashid Street and 2nd December Street are joined by two more bridges with two lanes each way. Together they run 2,000 metres and can take up to 6,000 vehicles an hour.

The final pair links Al Majlis Street and 2nd December Street, again with two lanes in each direction, 2,000 metres of combined length and capacity of around 6,000 vehicles an hour.

Drivers coming from 2nd December Street in Jumeirah and Al Satwa will get a free-flowing route to Al Majlis Street, which leads on to Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai World Trade Centre and Al Mustaqbal Street. RTA said traffic bound for Sheikh Rashid Street and Deira will also move more easily.

The authority expects smoother flow, too, from Sheikh Zayed Road onto 2nd December Street and from Al Mustaqbal Street onto Sheikh Zayed Road southbound. A free-flowing connection from Sheikh Zayed Road to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street will spread traffic more evenly across nearby roads and let the junction handle heavier volumes, it said.

RTA said the scheme serves several of Dubai’s main economic, commercial, residential and development districts. Among them is Dubai World Trade Centre, host to major international exhibitions, conferences and events for over four decades, which draws large numbers of visitors each year to shows such as GITEX, Arabian Travel Market and Gulfood, as well as other specialist exhibitions and conferences.

The authority described DIFC, also served by the project, as a leading financial hub for South Asia, Africa and the Middle East and home to many international financial institutions and companies. Za’abeel, Al Satwa, Al Karama, Al Jafiliya and Al Mankhool, along with the residential, commercial and development areas around them, also benefit. RTA estimates the project will serve more than 500,000 residents and visitors.

In the authority’s view, the upgrades carry particular weight because of where the junction sits on Sheikh Zayed Road, the heavy traffic it handles every day and its direct links to major economic, commercial and tourism destinations. RTA said they will make those places easier to reach, better connect neighbouring districts and simplify daily travel for residents, employees and visitors.

The roundabout works sit within a wider, integrated road development programme that also covers Al Mustaqbal Street, from its junction with Za’abeel Palace Street to Financial Centre Street. Work on that stretch is moving quickly and is due for completion in 2027; RTA said it will strengthen links between main corridors and make the surrounding network more efficient. The authority’s $172 million (AED 633 million) contract for the Al Mustaqbal Street upgrade was announced in July 2025.

According to RTA, the two projects together will improve connections between Sheikh Zayed Road and the main roads around it, make business centres and economic and commercial destinations easier to reach and add capacity to the network. It said this will accommodate the area’s urban and economic growth and support Dubai’s goals for advanced infrastructure and a flexible, sustainable mobility system.

On Al Mustaqbal Street, 1,500 metres of bridges and tunnels are being built and the road is going from three to four lanes each way. RTA said capacity will rise by 33%, from 9,000 to 12,000 vehicles an hour, and the journey will fall from eight minutes to three minutes and 30 seconds.

Its three tunnels, 1,100 metres long combined, are at the Al Mustaqbal Street and Trade Centre Street intersection. A 400-metre, two-lane bridge will carry traffic from Dubai World Trade Centre to the junction of Za’abeel Palace Street and Al Mustaqbal Street.

A 3,500-metre stretch of Al Mustaqbal Street, running from Za’abeel Palace Street to Financial Centre Street, is also being widened from three to four lanes in each direction. The package adds free-flowing connections at the Exhibition Street and Trade Centre Street intersections, a pedestrian bridge on Al Sukook Street and upgrades to existing junctions along the route.