Dubai’s Latest RTA Road Upgrades Are Making Daily Journeys Faster

Projects across Hessa Street, Oud Metha, Dubai Harbour and other key corridors are cutting travel times, increasing capacity and easing pressure at major junctions.

KEY POINT  Dubai’s road programme is delivering measurable gains: Hessa Street now handles twice the traffic and a typical journey has fallen from 15 minutes to four, while further openings are improving access across the city.

A citywide push to remove traffic bottlenecks

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has opened and advanced a series of road projects in 2026 aimed at making everyday journeys faster and more predictable. The works range from major corridor expansions and new bridges to targeted lane additions at known pressure points.

The upgrades are spread across some of the emirate’s busiest routes, including Hessa Street, Oud Metha Road, Al Asayel Street, Al Qudra Road, Dubai Harbour and the World Trade Centre area. Together, they are designed to separate conflicting traffic movements, increase hourly capacity and provide more direct links between arterial roads and residential or commercial districts.

Hessa Street: journey time falls to four minutes

The first phase of the Hessa Street Development Project was completed on 19 April 2026. It covered 4.5 kilometres between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road and widened the street and bridges at four major intersections to four lanes in each direction.

The result is a doubling of combined capacity from 8,000 to 16,000 vehicles per hour and a reduction in travel time from 15 minutes to four. The upgraded junctions connect Hessa Street with Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Asayel Street, First Al Khail Street and Al Khail Road.

Phase two is under way along another three kilometres between Al Khail Road and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road. When complete, RTA expects journey time across the extended corridor to fall from 24 minutes to five.
 

Oud Metha and Al Asayel: major capacity increase ahead

The Oud Metha Road and Al Asayel Street project is being delivered in stages. A three-lane bridge opened on 26 July, carrying traffic from Al Khail Road to Al Asayel Street via Al Wasl Club Street. It can handle up to 3,600 vehicles per hour and bypasses a heavily used intersection.

A 260-metre tunnel opened on 8 August, providing a direct link from Dubai–Al Ain Road to Oud Metha Service Road with capacity for 1,200 vehicles per hour. The connection is intended to reduce weaving and traffic overlap where the roads meet.

Once the full scheme is completed, travel time is expected to drop 75 per cent—from 20 minutes to five—and Oud Metha Street’s capacity is projected to rise 50 per cent, from 10,400 to 15,600 vehicles per hour in both directions. The corridor serves Zabeel, Al Jaddaf, Oud Metha, Umm Hurair, Latifa Hospital and Al Wasl Club.

Recent upgrades at a glance

New bridges improve access to fast-growing districts

The Dubai Harbour bridge, completed in July after a phased opening, provides a direct two-lane connection in each direction from Sheikh Zayed Road. The 1.5-kilometre structure can carry 6,000 vehicles per hour and has reduced the relevant journey from 12 minutes to three.

At the Al Qudra Road–Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street intersection, a new 700-metre bridge opened on 9 August. When the entire junction scheme is finished, capacity is expected to rise from 7,800 to 19,400 vehicles per hour and average waiting time is projected to fall from nearly seven minutes to one.
 

Targeted changes also deliver quick gains

Not every improvement requires a large bridge or tunnel. Rapid changes on Ras Al Khor Road and Al Khail Road have saved up to three minutes and improved traffic flow by 20 per cent. A new lane on Al Khail Road in the Abu Dhabi direction raised capacity by 33 per cent and cut peak travel time by 20 per cent.

On Latifa bint Hamdan Street, one kilometre of added lanes and two new U-turns increased service-road capacity from 600 to 1,000 vehicles per hour, with peak congestion reduced by as much as 30 per cent.

What motorists should expect next

Several benefits remain dependent on final project completion. Further Oud Metha structures are due as the scheme moves toward completion, while side ramps at Al Qudra and additional bridges at the World Trade Centre are scheduled later in 2026. Hessa Street phase two will extend the improvements eastward toward Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road.

For motorists, the practical effect is a network with fewer merging conflicts, higher junction capacity and more direct connections. Travel times will still vary with demand, incidents and construction activity, but the published before-and-after figures show how targeted infrastructure can reshape routine journeys across Dubai.