Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) made a series of announcements on Sunday, 17 September. First and foremost, RTA announced the 90% completion of the cycling tracks of Al Khawaneej and Mushrif clocked. The 7km stretch connects the existing 32km in the two areas, and the total length of cycling tracks in both districts now reaches up to 39 km.
The first track runs from the Quranic Garden 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.
The second one starts from Mushrif Park near the Crocodile Park, extends up to the intersection with Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street, and heads North 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.
His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, said, "The cycling track at Al Khawaneej and Mushrif is part of a master plan to develop cycling tracks and connect key districts of the city. The plan includes increasing the total length of cycling tracks in Dubai from the existing 544 km to 819 km by 2026. The coastal areas such as Jumeirah, Al Sufouh, and the Marina will be linked to the external road tracks at Al Qudra, Seih Al Salam, and Nad Al Sheba along Al Barsha, Dubai Hills and Nad Al Sheba."
He added, "The project aims to provide suitable options for people to cycle according to Dubai Urban Plan 2040 aimed to make Dubai the best city for living in the world."
Besides this, RTA announced a speed limit of 30 km/h at cycling tracks dedicated to amateurs, and those tracks shared with vehicles to make roads safer. It also fixed a speed limit of 20 km/h on dedicated or shared tracks with pedestrians within urban areas. However, no specific speed limits were set for cycling training tracks.