Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is rolling out one of the city's most ambitious road upgrade programmes in years, targeting the congested corridor stretching from Jumeirah Street through Umm Suqeim to Al Khail Road. When complete, a journey that currently takes 20 minutes will take just six — a 70 percent reduction — thanks to new tunnels, bridges, and expanded highways serving more than two million residents.
What the Umm Suqeim Upgrade Includes
The centrepiece of the project is the upgrade of Umm Suqeim Street from its intersection with Jumeirah Street all the way to Al Khail Road. The RTA's plan calls for four bridges and three tunnels across six major intersections along this route.
Specific infrastructure includes a two-lane tunnel at Jumeirah Street, another at Al Wasl Street, bridges on Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road, and a dedicated tunnel routing vehicles from Al Barsha directly onto Sheikh Zayed Road. Key sections of the road will be widened to five lanes in each direction, with capacity rising to 16,000 vehicles per hour.
A 20 km Corridor from Jumeirah to Al Qudra Road
The Umm Suqeim works are part of a larger RTA master plan to create a 20 km corridor running from Jumeirah all the way to Al Qudra Road. Alongside vehicle infrastructure, the plan includes improved pedestrian walkways, separate cycling tracks, and landscaped boulevard plazas designed to make surrounding neighbourhoods more liveable. One particularly notable element is a strengthened connection between Mall of the Emirates Metro Station and nearby residential communities.
Al Barsha Link Already 70 Percent Done
The RTA has already made substantial progress on a related 4.6 km stretch linking Al Khail Road to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road. That section is approximately 70 percent complete and includes an 800-metre tunnel adjacent to Kings' School in Al Barsha South.
Al Qudra Road Gets Bridges and Wider Lanes
Improvements are also under way on Al Qudra Road, where 2.7 km of new bridges are being constructed alongside 11.6 km of road widening. Once finished, travel time along that stretch — passing critical junctions near Arabian Ranches, Dubai Studio City, and Jebel Ali — will drop from 9.4 minutes to 2.8 minutes.
Part of Dubai's 2025–2027 Strategic Plan
All of these works sit within Dubai's wider 2025–2027 Strategic Plan for transport infrastructure, which covers the construction of 226 kilometres of new roads and 115 bridges and tunnels across 57 projects citywide. Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed reviewed progress on the strategic road corridors in May 2025, underscoring the priority the emirate places on keeping pace with rapid population and economic growth.
The RTA says the goal is to ensure Dubai's streets are ready for the future — easier to navigate, more connected to public transit, and friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists alike.
