Dubai will construct 12 pedestrian crossings in various locations in the emirate at a cost of Dh58 million ($15.8 million) to be completed within 600 days.

“These crossings will be constructed in a number of locations, which witness intensive movement of inhabitants between the two sides of the roads, as well as spots recording high percentage of run-over accidents” said Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) chairman and director Mattar Al Tayer.

These crossings will be constructed at Al Mankhool Road opposite Al Ain Center, Khalid bin Al Waleed Road between Saqr and Al Saaeediya intersection, Salahudeen Al Ayoobi Road between Fish R/A & Al Muraqabat intersection, Baniyas Road between ships wharfage & Sheraton intersection, Damascus Road between Al Nahda & Baghdad Road, Damascus Road between Aleppo & Bagdad Roads, Abu Bakr Al Siddiqq Road near Hamr Ain Center, Al Rasheed Road near Hamriya Souk, Zabeel Road near Central Post Office, Al Hadeeqa Road near Safa Park, and Al Rebat Road at the back of Al Rashidiya area.

He stressed that constructing these crossings comes as part of the efforts made by the RTA to provide safe mobility means to pedestrians to cross roads. Designs of these crossings have been oriented to serve all categories of the community, particularly persons with special needs.

They have been fitted with escalators & elevators, with overhead parts covered with a heat-proof material. The crossings have been air-conditioned to assist pedestrians with crossing roads in safe conditions.

“Following completion of these crossings, the number of pedestrian crossings will rise to 38 crossings, in addition to 15 pedestrian tunnels. Two pedestrian crossings have been constructed in 2007 and work is currently underway in constructing 7 pedestrian crossings, such that the total number of pedestrian crossings will rise, by the time of completing construction of the Red & Blue Lines of Dubai Metro in 2009, to around 93 pedestrian crossings,” Al Tayer added.

He said RTA assigns high importance to traffic safety on the existing roads, and road projects under construction / design so as to create a healthy atmosphere that contributes to averting accidents, and upgrade safety standards of road structure.

“This is realised through adopting the principle of scrutinising and reviewing plans of new road projects at the design phase to ensure compliance with the best accredited world-class standards in terms of provision of safety at intersections, facilitating pedestrian crossing, improving the level of visibility & night vision, traffic boards and so on,” he said.

“Run-over accidents are among the key safety issues that will receive much focus in the strategic plan of the RTA, particularly in view of the statistics, which indicate a rise in run-over accidents at a rate of 3.5 per cent during the first half of this year. Total number of death reached 59 cases compared to 57 cases in the first half of 2006. The number of injuries as a result of run-over accidents during the same period dropped by 1.5 per cent as there were 349 injuries in the first half of 2006 compared to 344 injuries in the first half of this year,” revealed Al Tayer.

He said the free and express roads were responsible for 37 per cent of the total number of fatalities resulting from run-over accidents where 22 death cases were reported, followed by arterial roads which witnessed the death of 20 individuals accounting for 34 per cent, followed by accumulative & local roads, which recorded 17 death cases.

Al Tayer said the RTA is currently engaged in preparing & implementing all traffic safety programs to ensure safety to all road users at all roads so as to cut down the percentage of accidents to the least possible level in the emirate of Dubai.

“RTA will also attend to preparing strategic & annual traffic safety plans, and reviewi