Drivers heading between Bur Dubai and the northern edge of Deira have a new underground route. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) opened the Al Khaleej Street Tunnel on Sunday, November 8, adding a 1.65-kilometre link to one of the city’s busiest waterfront corridors.
According to the RTA, the tunnel starts at the end of the Infinity Bridge ramp in Deira and runs to the intersection of Al Khaleej Street and Al Wuheida Street. It carries three lanes in each direction and can handle a combined 12,000 vehicles an hour.
What the new tunnel changes for motorists
The main aim is to keep traffic moving without stopping between Infinity Bridge and the Deira and Al Mamzar areas, in both directions. Before the tunnel, vehicles coming off the bridge had to join surface roads in Deira, where signals and junctions slow journeys at peak times.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, described the tunnel as “a significant addition to Deira’s road network”, the Dubai Media Office reported.
Residents and businesses in areas such as Abu Hail, Al Wuheida, Al Mamzar, Waterfront Market and Al Hamriya Port are among those expected to benefit, according to the authority.
Part of the wider Al Shindagha Corridor project
The tunnel is the latest piece of the Al Shindagha Corridor Development Project, one of Dubai’s largest road schemes. The project covers 13 kilometres along Sheikh Rashid Road, Al Mina Street, Al Khaleej Street and Cairo Street, and includes 15 intersections.
The RTA says the corridor will serve around one million people, including those living and working in Dubai Islands, Dubai Waterfront, Dubai Maritime City and Port Rashid. Once the full scheme is finished, the authority expects journey times along the corridor to fall from 104 minutes to 16 minutes by 2030.
Other works still under way include a new bridge across Dubai Creek running from Infinity Bridge to the Port Rashid redevelopment area. The RTA says this bridge will be about 1,425 metres long, with four lanes in each direction and capacity for about 16,000 vehicles an hour. It will rise 18.5 metres above the water, leave a 75-metre channel for boats, and include a pedestrian and cycling track with two lifts.
A direct entry and exit link between Dubai Islands and Bur Dubai is also being built, and roundabouts on Cairo Street and Al Wuheida Street are due to be turned into signal-controlled junctions. The ramp from the Dubai Islands bridge will connect to the new tunnel towards Al Mamzar.
Quick facts
- Opened: Sunday, November 8, 2026
- Length: 1,650 metres
- Route: End of the Infinity Bridge ramp in Deira to the Al Khaleej Street and Al Wuheida Street intersection
- Lanes: Three in each direction
- Capacity: 12,000 vehicles an hour, both directions combined
- Wider project: Al Shindagha Corridor, 13km and 15 intersections, due to be completed by 2030
Artwork and construction figures
The RTA has also announced plans for a mosaic mural inside the tunnel by Emirati artist Maryam Al Hathboor. The design shows Dubai’s skyline, including Infinity Bridge, in a style inspired by banknotes and uses around 35 million mosaic pieces. The authority’s statement says the tunnel “will be transformed” by the work, so it is not yet clear whether the mural has been fully installed.
The authority says the corridor works have logged nearly 11 million work hours without injuries, involving about 2,200 engineers, technicians and workers and 350 pieces of equipment. Around 77 per cent of the roughly 522,000 cubic metres of soil dug out has been reused in other projects.
Motorists planning a trip through the area may want to check live traffic apps for the first few days, as drivers get used to the new layout. The opening comes as the UAE prepares wider changes for road users, including the nine-hour daily driving limit and new licence rules due from 2027.
Sources: Dubai Media Office (RTA), Gulf Construction Online, Emirates 24|7
