Spanning 1,650 metres, the tunnel extends from the end of the Infinity Bridge ramp in Deira to the intersection of Al Khaleej Street and Al Wuheida Street. It will carry three lanes in each direction and handle up to 12,000 vehicles per hour across both directions, easing pressure on one of Dubai’s busiest traffic corridors and strengthening links between Deira, Bur Dubai and waterfront development zones.
Completion is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026, with construction moving at an accelerated pace. Fourteen teams are working round the clock on excavation support, including retaining walls for deep excavation and sheet piles for medium-depth works. Four additional teams are handling tunnel excavation, with output reaching 5,000 to 6,000 cubic metres a day and set to rise to 8,500 cubic metres in the next phase.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority, said the tunnel forms part of the Al Shindagha Corridor Improvement Project, one of the authority’s largest road infrastructure schemes. The broader corridor stretches 13 kilometres along Sheikh Rashid Street, Al Mina Street, Al Khaleej Street and Cairo Street, covering 15 intersections and serving about one million people.
Work completed so far includes the first phase of the tunnel’s structural works over 890 metres, representing 65 per cent of total structural activity. The second phase extends 760 metres and remains under construction. Tunnel wall cladding has started alongside road paving, widening works, lighting, traffic signal systems, rainwater drainage, irrigation networks and utility diversion across the project area.
Safety performance has emerged as a key operational marker. Nearly 8 million work hours have been recorded since the project began, with no lost-time injuries reported. Around 1,591 engineers, technicians and workers are deployed across the site, supported by 221 machines and items of heavy equipment.
Beyond the tunnel itself, the project includes converting roundabouts on Cairo Street and Al Wuheida Street into signalised junctions, upgrading Cairo Street and connecting the ramp from Dubai Islands to the new tunnel on Al Khaleej Street towards Al Mamzar. The works are expected to benefit Abu Hail, Al Wuheida and Al Mamzar, as well as Dubai Islands, Waterfront Market and Al Hamriya Port.
Al Shindagha Corridor has become central to Dubai’s transport strategy as population growth, tourism expansion and waterfront redevelopment place heavier demand on east-west road links. The corridor supports traffic movement across areas that include Dubai Islands, Dubai Maritime City, Port Rashid and the Waterfront Market, with capacity expected to rise from 6,400 vehicles per hour to 24,000 vehicles per hour once the wider programme is fully completed.
RTA completed Al Shindagha Corridor works on the Bur Dubai side in 2025, including key bridges and junction upgrades that improved movement between Al Garhoud Bridge, Port Rashid, Infinity Bridge and the Waterfront Market. Those works reduced travel times on parts of the route and set the base for the Deira-side tunnel now approaching completion.
A separate project is also underway to provide direct access to Dubai Islands from the Bur Dubai side. That scheme includes a 1,425-metre bridge across Dubai Creek between Infinity Bridge and the Port Rashid development area. The bridge will have four lanes in each direction and capacity for around 16,000 vehicles per hour.
The Dubai Islands access bridge will rise 18.5 metres above the water and include a 75-metre navigation channel for vessels passing through the Creek. It will also feature a pedestrian and cycling track served by two lifts, alongside about 2,000 metres of surface roads linking both ends to the existing network.
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