Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, approved implementation of the New Fourth Corridor, which will run from Al Faya Road in Abu Dhabi to Al Shanouf Road in Sharjah. The first phase, extending from Al Shanouf Road to Dubai-Al Ain Road, is estimated to cost Dh3.5 billion.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority said the full project will include 72 bridges, 17 tunnels and 45 stormwater drainage culverts. The route will pass major transport, environmental and development locations including Al Maktoum International Airport, Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve, Al Wohoosh Desert Conservation Reserve and the Etihad Rail route.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the RTA’s Board of Executive Directors, said the corridor would help move through traffic, particularly trucks, away from urban districts, easing pressure on existing roads while improving traffic flow and road safety.
The first phase will cover about 30km between Al Shanouf Road and Dubai-Al Ain Road. It will provide a through corridor with 12 lanes across both directions and capacity for up to 24,000 vehicles an hour. The RTA expects the section to cut a 35-minute journey to 14 minutes, a reduction of 60 per cent, and serve about 600,000 people.
Works in that phase will include about 55 lane-kilometres of at-grade roads, 2.5km of tunnels and 21km of bridges and ramps. Dubai-Al Ain Road will also be widened from three to four lanes in each direction between Emirates Road and Lehbab Road, while four major intersections will be upgraded.
The second phase will extend about 50km from Dubai-Al Ain Road to Al Faya Road in Abu Dhabi. It will also comprise 12 lanes across both directions and offer capacity of 24,000 vehicles an hour. Authorities project that journey time on the section will fall by 52 per cent, from 50 minutes to 24 minutes, while the phase will serve around 3.1 million people.
That section is planned to include approximately 190 lane-kilometres of at-grade roads, 3.5km of tunnels and 157km of bridges and ramps, reflecting the scale of grade-separated connections required along the route.
The project is intended to redistribute traffic across Dubai’s outer road network rather than funnel inter-emirate journeys through established urban corridors. Officials said that approach should be important for heavy vehicles and logistics traffic, which can add pressure to commuter routes during peak periods. The new alignment is also expected to provide road capacity for residential and development zones along Dubai’s southern and eastern growth areas.
Sheikh Hamdan said the corridor supports the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and Dubai Social Agenda 33 by improving mobility and infrastructure readiness. The government has presented the scheme as a long-term network addition rather than a stand-alone road, with connections planned around existing highways, airport access and rail infrastructure.
Sheikh Hamdan said the project would reinforce Dubai’s links with the federal road network and support future urban and economic development. He said infrastructure investment remained central to preparing the emirate for population growth, new development areas and expanding transport demand.
The corridor will become the fourth strategic road axis linking the UAE’s emirates, after Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Ittihad Road, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road. Its alignment is designed to give logistics and commercial traffic another cross-emirate route while connecting with major transport infrastructure.
The project also forms part of wider road planning around Al Maktoum International Airport, where Dubai is expanding aviation capacity and associated development. Linking the corridor with the airport and Etihad Rail is intended to improve access between road, rail and air transport networks as freight and passenger movements increase.
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