New addressing system will change the way Dubai is to be traversed.
In five years from now Dubai will look different. We all knew that, and Dubai will keep on changing. But did you know that also the names of streets and areas are about to change?
At the moment the Roads
and Transport Authority (RTA) is undertaking a massive addressing system
project, changing the names of existing streets, forming new area
clusters and districts and naming these as well.
In order to suit
the constant changes in Dubai’s infrastructure and road network and
enable motorists to navigate easily on this complex network a new
way-finding and addressing system has been developed.
“A
total of more than 7,500 streets have been appointed for renaming, out
of which approximately 500+ have already been changed,” said Maitha bin
Adai, CEO of the Traffic and Roads Agency (TRA) at the RTA.
“As
part of the new addressing system internal streets are numbered
sequentially,” she continued. “To reduce the complexity and make it
easier to remember them it was decided that these streets - which
previously were referred to with numbers - will now be named.
“Once
fully developed, Dubai is likely to have 250 fully-developed areas by
2030. These areas are commonly referred to as communities and will be
demarcated based on the land use it encompasses and be surrounded by
major roads, which act as their boundaries. This is done during the
preparation of the area-wide planning by Dubai Municipality Planning
Department,” she explained.
The communities on their turn will form larger districts, and each district will have a particular theme.
“For
example, streets in a district as Jumeirah will have names bearing
marine features duvh as boats, fishes, marine life, etc., since it is
abuot beach and sea. Similarly, streets in Deira and Bur Dubai will have
historical and heritage names, while inland areas as Mushrif and Al
Awir will bear names of local trees, famous Arab personalities, poets,
etc.”
Apart from existing places in Dubai, new areas are to
comply with the new system. Hence, new communities in Dubai already
demonstrate aspects of the new addressing system.
“Major projects
that were implemented as per the new system include the ‘Al Khail Road
Improvement’ projects along Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, as well as
Parallel Road projects, and they were found to be effective and
acceptable,” said Maitha.
The project is being undertaken in
stages, so as to create as little confusion as possible. However, a
careful eye of the public is needed, as a familiar street may suddenly
have a different name, although it still leads where it always did.
As such, what used to be Emirates Road is now Sheikh Mohammed Bin
Zayed Road, while the previous Dubai Bypass Road has become Emirates
Road.
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