Staff Report www.gulfnews.com
Dubai: At the stroke of midnight on Friday, some 500,000 spectators had gathered around the world’s tallest standing structure, Burj Khalifa, to celebrate the new year with display of fireworks.
Many of them had battled long traffic queues to reach to the nearest point possible, while others who did not get that lucky pulled their cars over wherever they were stuck and created a picnic-like atmosphere while making sure to catch the view of the fireworks, even from far away.
Shaikh Zayed Road was packed as motorists tried to reach Downtown Burj Khalifa, while Business Bay Crossing saw unusual traffic heading towards the Burj area, creating traffic chaos.
“I wanted to go all the way to the Downtown area, but in this traffic I don’t think I will reach anywhere near. I am relieved that I reached Al Jaddaf exit because I am going back home after getting stuck for one hour just at the beginning of the crossing,” said Mohammad Al Falasy on Friday night.
Crawling home
After a long night of crawling back to homes, via driving, walking, riding the metro, taking taxis or simply riding motorbikes, many people went out on Saturday to continue the celebrations at parks, malls and beaches, availing of the pleasant weather conditions.
