By November, both new toll gates - one located at Business Bay Crossing on Al Khail Road, the other at Al Safa South on Sheikh Zayed Road between Al Meydan Street and Umm Al Sheif Street - will be operational.
As per the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the new toll gates will "streamline traffic flows on Dubai's roads by rerouting traffic to alternative routes such as Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, Dubai - Al Ain Road, Ras Al Khor Road, and Al-Manama Street."
According to RTA, here are the effects of the new toll gates:
As part of Business Bay Crossing, Salik will contribute to:
Rerouting traffic from Jebel Ali to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Emirates Roads
Alleviating Al Khail Road’s congestion by up to 15 per cent
Reducing Al Rebat Street's traffic volumes by up to 16 per cent
Reducing Financial Centre Street's traffic volumes by 5 per cent
Cutting the total travel time on Al Khail Road's congested segment between Al Rebat and Ras Al Khor Streets by 20,000 hours daily in both directions
South Salik Al Safa will result in:
- Reduction of right-turning traffic from Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Meydan Street by 15 per cent
- Reducing traffic volumes from Al Meydan and Al Safa Streets to Sheikh Zayed Road by about 42 per cent
- Reducing traffic volumes on Sheikh Zayed Road between Financial Centre and Latifa Bint Hamdan Streets by 4 per cent
- Optimising the use of First Al Khail Road and Al Asayel Streets by 4 per cent.
Providing road infrastructure support
Toll gates are part of transport policies aimed at supporting roads infrastructure and public transport projects by distributing traffic across the entire road network, said RTA director general and board chairman Mattar Al Tayer.
"The existing toll gates have reduced the total travel time in Dubai by 6 million hours annually, reduced traffic volumes on the Al Maktoum and Al Garhoud bridges by 26 percent, reduced travel times on Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Ittihad Street by 24 percent, and increased the number of users of mass transit by 9 million annually," he said.
Policies that encourage traffic tolls also encourage public transportation use. From 2006 to 2023, the RTA completed mega road projects worth more than Dh146 billion, including Dubai Metro, the world's longest driverless metro network that has transported over 2 billion passengers.
Salik, which means 'seamless mobility' in Arabic, is Dubai's automatic road toll collection system.
In June 2022, Salik was transformed into a public joint stock company (PJSC). Over 539 million journeys were recorded through Salik's eight toll gates located at strategic junctions - especially along Sheikh Zayed Road, which is considered the main arterial road of the city.