Two new Salik gates open in Dubai

Two new Salik toll gates went live in Dubai on Monday, in a move expected to reduce the Dubai-Sharjah traffic congestion.

One of the Salik gates has been installed near the Airport Tunnel on Beirut Street and the other on either side of the Al Mamzar bridge, bringing the number of total Salik gates in the emirate to six.

Motorists will be charged AED4 for each Salik crossing, with a maximum daily charge of AED24.

“There are about 260,000 vehicles using Al Ittihad Road every day, and as the total number of vehicle trips in the emirate is estimated in the order of 3 million trips per day, it follows that the percentage of vehicles using Al Ittihad Road is 9% of the total number of vehicles travelling in the emirate,” local website Emirates 24/7 quoted Mattar Al Tayer, RTA’s Chairman of the Board and Executive Director as saying.

However, it is yet to be seen whether the new Salik gates have helped in reducing the traffic congestion or if motorists are actively using alternate routes to avoid the toll.