Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) opened a new 1.65-kilometre tunnel on Sunday, connecting the end of the Infinity Bridge ramp to the intersection of Al Khaleej Street and Al Wuheida Street in Deira. The tunnel has three lanes in each direction and can handle up to 12,000 vehicles an hour.

The tunnel forms part of the wider Al Shindagha Corridor Improvement Project, a 13-kilometre scheme that also includes a separate 1,425-metre bridge across Dubai Creek with four lanes in each direction, capable of carrying 16,000 vehicles an hour. Fifteen intersections along the corridor are also being upgraded as part of the same plan. RTA director-general and chairman of the board Mattar Al Tayer said the project is expected to benefit around one million residents and commuters. the journey time along the full corridor, currently one hour and 44 minutes, is projected to fall to just 16 minutes by 2030. Construction involved 2,200 engineers, technicians and workers using 350 pieces of equipment, logging 11 million work hours with zero reported injuries. Of the material excavated for the project, 522,000 cubic metres, or 77 per cent of the total, was reused elsewhere.

A striking feature of the new tunnel is a mosaic mural by Emirati artist Maryam Al Hathboor depicting Dubai's skyline, made up of more than 36 million individual mosaic pieces.

The tunnel is the latest in a series of major RTA interventions aimed at easing congestion around the Dubai Creek area, and is expected to significantly cut daily commute times between Deira and Bur Dubai.