Motorists faced significant detours on 20 February as the fifth stage of the UAE Tour cycling race wound its way from Al Mamzar Park to Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) issued real-time advisories, warning that sections of Infinity Bridge, Al Safa Street and parts of Sheikh Zayed Road would close in rolling blocks between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. While the closures lasted only minutes at each point, cumulative delays rippled across the afternoon commute and affected shuttle services to Dubai International Airport. Several logistics firms rerouted same-day deliveries to avoid penalty-bearing service-level breaches. The episode illustrates the growing impact of large-scale sporting events on urban mobility in the Gulf. Employers with time-critical movements—crew changes, site visits, airport transfers—should build time buffers into schedules whenever the RTA publishes special-event maps. Multinational mobility teams are also advised to monitor the RTA’s #UAEtour traffic handle for English-language updates, as automated navigation apps often lag behind official rolling-closure timings.
Source: The National
