RTA to award Canal contracts by year end
Construction work on Business Bay Canal will begin in Q1 of next year
The Business Bay Canal extension project will cost $408m
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Construction work on the Business Bay Canal extension will begin in the first quarter of next year, Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority, said on Saturday.
He added that the RTA will award the project contracts before the end of the year, and that the expansion would include modifications on existing roads and bridges in order to extend the Canal from Sheikh Zayed Road to the Arabian Gulf.
The construction of the project, which will cost $408.3mn, will require the construction of bridges rising up to 8.5m over the Canal on key roads that intersect it. This will mean the construction of a six-lane bridge in each direction of SZR, and a two lane bridge in each direction of each of Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Road. This will ensure free marine traffic in the Canal around the clock.
Al Tayer added that marine transit stations would be provided throughout the canal to ease the movement of the public and promote marine and tourist mass transit.
The RTA will carry out several improvements to key roads intersecting the Canal, as well as surrounding areas, such as Jumeirah and Al Safa neighbourhoods. This will also include the construction of three pedestrian bridges across the Canal, in addition to footpaths along all new main bridges.
Tracks dedicated to jogging and cycling will also be constructed along both sides of the canal, while the RTA will carry out landscaping work as well.
The path specified for the Water Canal stretches 2.8km in length and ranges from 80m to 100m in width. The Canal will cross the Sheikh Zayed Road (before Safa Interchange) and passes through Safa Park, Wasl Road, Jumeirah 2, and Jumeirah Road and goes on to terminate at the Arabian Gulf, thus ensures the renewal of water in the entire Canal.
