Motorists on one of the UAE’s most heavily used corridors stand to see journey times drop by as much as 65 per cent under a road expansion the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure now reports is nearly a third finished. The AED 750 million Emirates Road Enhancement Project has moved past the 30 per cent completion threshold, with the ministry noting that crews are running ahead of the original timetable.
Central to the work is a stretch of Emirates Road near the Al Ain Road interchange, where an 11-kilometre segment is being widened from three lanes to six in each direction. Engineers plan to layer in 14 bridges and five tunnels along the route, additions meant to smooth vehicle movement, clear chronic bottlenecks and lift safety standards throughout the corridor.
Officials estimate the finished upgrade will boost traffic flow by up to 70 per cent and allow the road to carry roughly 9,000 more vehicles. The effort sits within a wider national push to modernize the country’s road system and tighten regional connectivity ahead of 2030.
The ministry first unveiled the AED 750 million scheme in July 2025, and construction got underway that September on a two-year schedule. It ranks among a set of large-scale infrastructure builds the government has tied to a growing population, better mobility and a more efficient federal transport grid.
A related segment of the broader Emirates Road program targets a 25-kilometre span running from Sharjah’s Al Badee Interchange toward Umm Al Quwain, widening it from three lanes to five in each direction. That portion carries its own overhaul of Interchange No. 7, built around six directional bridges totaling 12.6 kilometres alongside 3.4 kilometres of collector roads. Planners expect it to raise capacity by about 65 per cent and shave up to 45 per cent off trips linking Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah and Dubai.
