The scheme calls for the widening of two sections of the existing highway and the construction of two new roads. The entire project is scheduled to be completed by 2007.

Designs for phase 3, the first phase in the programme, are close to completion, with the main construction tender expected to be issued by early summer. The road will comprise a 25-kilometre four-lane dual-carriageway linking the Dubai-Al-Ain highway with the Jebel Ali-Lehbab road.

Phases 1 and 2 will see the current outer bypass from the Sharjah-Dubai border to Al-Ain widened to a four-lane dual-carriageway. The tender for the 30-kilometre project is expected to be issued by the end of the year.

The final phase, to be tendered in early 2006, will see a new 50 kilometre, four-lane dual-carriageway linking the Jebel Ali-Lehbab road with the Abu Dhabi border.

The project is part of a wider effort to reduce deteriorating traffic congestion in and around Dubai.