From Sharjah Municipality to Dubai's Trade Centre via Al Buhaira Corniche Road, Al Khan Street, Beirut Road. By Ashfaq Ahmed
Distance: 24 km
Travel time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
Average speed: 17 kmph
Since I have been commuting between Sharjah and Dubai using Al Ittihad Road for seven years, I decided to take a different route Beirut Road, to drive from Sharjah Government Square (Sharjah Municipality) to the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Traffic had already become bad when I set off with Gulf News photographer Ashgar Khan at 7.30am using the Buhaira Corniche Road a route used by motorists living in the Al Majaz district. I then entered Al Khan Street at the intersection in front of the Old Expo Centre a road commonly used by motorists coming from Rolla and adjacent areas.
That was it; we found ourselves in a traffic jam right from the beginning. The intersection was practically choked with vehicles encroaching on the yellow box. My photographer colleague wasted no time jumping out of the car to take some pictures surprisingly much to the happiness of frustrated motorists who wanted the problem highlighted.
"Good job, man," shouted a driver rolling down his window.
It
was already 7.55am by the time we reached Sharjah Gate Square (under Al
Khan Bridge). Construction work added much to motorists' woes. The
roundabout under the bridge was completely choked because no one was
ready to give way to traffic coming from the left a general traffic
rule at the roundabouts.
We battled our way to cross the roundabout
only to be stuck again on Al Khan Street in the industrial area. It was
completely blocked. It took us 20 minutes to cover a distance of 1.5 km
in the first industrial area on Al Khan Street to Al Nahda Square. At
this square, we found three policemen controlling the traffic flow. One
could only have imagined the mess, had these policemen not been there
to direct drivers.