RTA announces 7km extension of Dubai’s cycling tracks

Credit: Roads and Transport Authority

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that it has awarded a contract for the construction of cycling tracks at Al Khawaneej and Mushrif. The project aims to provide suitable options for people to adopt cycling, as part of the realisation of the Dubai Urban Plan 2040.

The new tracks extend 7km and link with the existing tracks extending 32km in the two districts, extending the total length of cycling tracks in the two districts to 39km. 

“The cycling track in Al Khawaneej and Mushrif is part of a master plan to develop cycling tracks and connect key districts of the city. The plan, which extends to 2026, includes the construction of additional cycling tracks extending 278km, bringing the total length of cycling tracks to 819km. The plan also seeks to link the coastal areas such as Jumeirah, Al Sufouh and the Marina with the external tracks at Al Qudra, Seih Al Salam and Nad Al Sheba along Al Barsha, Dubai Hills and Nad Al Sheba,” said His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA. 

According to Al Tayer, the first cycling track runs from the Quranic Park on Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street up to the intersection with Al Khawaneej Street. It crosses the street through the combined pedestrian and cycling bridge on Al Khawaneej Street to link with the existing cycling track in Al Khawaneej. 

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On the other hand, the second cycling lane starts from Mushrif Park near the Crocodile Park, extends up to the intersection with Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street, and then heads northward up to the intersection with Al Khawaneej Street. It crosses the street through the pedestrian and cycling bridge on Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street to connect with the cycling track in Al Khawaneej. 

In line with the top international standards and technical directories, the design, construction and setting of speed limits for cycling tracks are also customised to the nature of the locality and the classification of the tracks. 

The dedicated cycling tracks constructed up to the first quarter of 2022 reached 542km and RTA aims to extend the total length of cycling tracks further to 819km by 2026, to link Dubai’s hotspots with various public transit options.

In order to ensure the safety of both pedestrians and cyclists, RTA has set a speed limit of 30 km/h at cycling tracks dedicated to amateurs and tracks shared with vehicles on safe roads. It fixed a speed limit of 20 km/h on dedicated or shared tracks with pedestrians within urban areas. However, no specific speed limits are set for cycling tracks for training purposes.