Traffic jams were reported from the early hours of Monday morning on many roads in the UAE, with most key roads turning yellow as school and college buses dotted the streets on the first day of the new academic year.
Likewise, roads around and leading towards schools were also crowded as many parents were asked by educational institutions to drop their children on the first day of the academic year.
Expecting a much heavier traffic flow today, many motorists started their journey half an earlier – especially those who had to drop their children to schools on the first day and then head to their offices.
Traffic started to build up as early as 6.30am on key Dubai-Sharjah roads as life returned to full throttle after the two-month summer break.
Making the most of navigation applications such as Google Maps, Waze and Yango Maps, many motorists turned to these apps to look for less crowded roads to reach their desired destinations on time.
Check the screenshot from a navigation app taken this morning:
Around a million students returned to schools on Monday, joining new classes across the emirates. A large number of them are transported by school and college buses.
Most of the key roads and smaller arteries connecting to major highways saw long queues of cars and buses from the early hours.
Al Ittihad Road or E11 which is one of the busiest roads in the UAE connecting the two major emirates Dubai with Sharjah, saw morning traffic building up much earlier than usual summer holidays.
During summer holidays, traffic usually starts to build up at around 7am on Al Ittihad Road. However, during regular days such as today when schools are open, traffic jams start around 45 minutes earlier.
“I knew it was the first academic day of the new year and hundreds of thousands of students will return to their educational institutes. Therefore, I was aware that the traffic would be much heavier than usual. Hence, I started the day much earlier to reach in time,” said Abu Eman, a Sharjah resident who drove to Dubai to drop her daughter at her college on day one.
Similarly, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road, or E311, is another extremely busy corridor connecting Dubai and Sharjah. The traffic was also much heavier on this highway from Al Zahia City Centre in the direction of Dubai.
Similarly, roads in Abu Dhabi -especially around Zayed City, Al Muntazah and a few other areas – showed some traffic in the early hours on Monday.
© Khaleej Times
Twitter