Middle East Construction

Final bridge of Dubai's World Trade Centre roundabout project opens on 30 October

By Staff Writer  |  26 October 2026

The 1,000-metre, two-lane bridge completes the major works on a scheme of more than Dh696 million and cuts the journey from Al Majlis Street to 2nd December Street from six minutes to one.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority will open the last bridge of the World Trade Centre Roundabout Development Project on Friday 30 October. The authority announced the date on Sunday.

The new structure is 1,000 metres long with two lanes and will carry around 3,000 vehicles an hour from Al Majlis Street towards 2nd December Street. Drivers on that movement should see the trip fall from six minutes to one.

Its opening marks the completion of all the major works on the project, which has cost more than Dh696 million. The scheme has built five bridges with a combined length of 5,000 metres, and the authority expects the average delay at the junction to drop from 12 minutes to 90 seconds.

What the five bridges do

The old roundabout at the Trade Centre has been replaced by an at-grade intersection, with the bridges taking the main movements over it. A 1,000-metre bridge links Sheikh Zayed Road with Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street towards Deira and carries 3,000 vehicles an hour. Two bridges between Sheikh Rashid Street and 2nd December Street give two lanes in each direction over a combined 2,000 metres, with capacity for up to 6,000 vehicles an hour. Two more, between Al Majlis Street and 2nd December Street, also run to a combined 2,000 metres and carry about 6,000 vehicles an hour.

The authority estimates that more than 500,000 residents and visitors will benefit. The districts served include Zaa'beel, Al Satwa, Al Karama, Al Jafiliya and Al Mankhool, along with the World Trade Centre exhibition complex and the financial centre, both of which the junction links to Sheikh Zayed Road.

The project will deliver a major improvement in traffic flow through free-flowing connections in multiple directions, stronger links between Sheikh Zayed Road and surrounding key streets, and a reduction in average delay at the intersection from 12 minutes to 90 seconds.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, Roads and Transport Authority

The next scheme on the corridor

Work continues next door on the Al Mustaqbal Street Development Project, which is due for completion in 2027. It covers the stretch between Za'abeel Palace Street and Financial Centre Street and includes three tunnels with a combined length of 1,100 metres at the junction of Al Mustaqbal Street and Trade Centre Street. A 3,500-metre section of Al Mustaqbal Street is being widened from three to four lanes in each direction, which the authority says will raise its capacity by 33 per cent, from 9,000 to 12,000 vehicles an hour.

For contractors and consultants the Trade Centre scheme shows the pattern Dubai is using at its busiest junctions: replace the roundabout with a surface intersection and lift the heaviest flows onto bridges. With the bridge works now closing out, the work left on this corridor is underground and at road level on Al Mustaqbal Street, on a city-centre site where traffic must keep moving until 2027.