16 September 2026
Dubai has approved the implementation of a new 80 kilometre motorway, the Fourth Corridor, running from Al Faya Road at the Abu Dhabi boundary to Al Shanouf Road at the Sharjah boundary. The approval was announced on 16 September 2026 by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai. The corridor carries 12 lanes in both directions and includes 72 bridges, 17 tunnels and 45 stormwater drainage culverts. Published capacity is up to 24,000 vehicles per hour in both directions, journey times are expected to fall by up to 60%, and the road is planned to serve more than 3.1 million residents. The first phase, from Al Shanouf Road in Sharjah to Dubai-Al Ain Road, is valued at AED 3.5 billion, and the completed corridor will connect with Al Maktoum International Airport and Etihad Rail.
What was approved
The decision covers execution of the project rather than a study of it. Sheikh Hamdan said the corridor is being built in line with the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to intensify investment in infrastructure.
His own description of the route is the plainest one available: a road extending 80 kilometres from the Abu Dhabi entrance to the Sharjah entrance. That is the defining feature. This is not a road built to move traffic around inside the city. It is an axis crossing the full width of the emirate and tying into the federal network at both ends.
Three things were published with the approval: the physical specification, the capacity and travel time effect, and the value of the first phase. Three things were not: a start date for construction, a completion date, and the name of the contractor. Those normally appear later, when the Roads and Transport Authority awards the works.
Where the road sits in the network
The UAE already has three inter emirate motorways running broadly parallel to the coast. E11 is Sheikh Zayed Road inside Dubai and Al Ittihad Road on the Sharjah side. E311 is Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road. E611 is Emirates Road. Each of the three runs further inland than the one before it, following the way the built up area has spread away from the water.
The Fourth Corridor is the next line out from the coast. Its northern end is Al Shanouf Road in Sharjah and its southern end is Al Faya Road in Abu Dhabi, so it picks up cross border traffic at both emirate boundaries instead of feeding it into the existing radials. The published figure of more than 3.1 million residents served is a measure of the catchment along that inland belt, which now holds much of Dubai South, Dubai Industrial City, Jebel Ali and the newer communities along E611 and E77.
The published specification
| Parameter | Figure |
|---|---|
| Length | approximately 80 km |
| Route | Al Faya Road, Abu Dhabi, to Al Shanouf Road, Sharjah |
| Lanes | 12 in both directions |
| Bridges | 72 |
| Tunnels | 17 |
| Stormwater drainage culverts | 45 |
| Capacity | up to 24,000 vehicles per hour in both directions |
| Journey time effect | reduction of up to 60% |
| Population served | more than 3.1 million |
| Phase one | Al Shanouf Road to Dubai-Al Ain Road, AED 3.5 billion |
| Phase two | Dubai-Al Ain Road to Al Faya Road, value not published |
The 72 bridges and 17 tunnels are the reason the figure is what it is. A grade separated corridor of this length has to cross every existing radial road, every utility line and every drainage wadi without a single signalised junction, and 45 stormwater culverts is the number needed to keep an inland alignment usable during the short, heavy rain events the country now plans for.
Two phases, one of them costed
The project is being delivered in two stages. Phase one runs from Al Shanouf Road in Sharjah to Dubai-Al Ain Road and carries the published value of AED 3.5 billion. Phase two continues from Dubai-Al Ain Road to Al Faya Road in Abu Dhabi and has no published figure yet.
The order matters for anyone reading the announcement as a map. The first money goes into the northern half of the alignment, the section between Sharjah and the Dubai to Al Ain axis. That is the stretch carrying the daily commute between the northern emirates and Dubai South, and it is also the stretch that reaches the logistics cluster around Al Maktoum International Airport from the Sharjah side.
The airport and the railway
Two connections were named in the announcement, and both are already under construction in their own right. The first is Al Maktoum International Airport, which is being expanded to become the sole passenger hub for Dubai and to handle 260 million passengers a year. We covered the scale of that transfer in our report on the move from Dubai International to Al Maktoum. An airport of that size needs road access measured in lanes per hour rather than in kilometres, and the Fourth Corridor is the road that supplies it from the Sharjah and Abu Dhabi directions.
The second is Etihad Rail. The national network already runs freight through Dubai and is adding passenger stations, including the one at Dubai Al Yalayis that we wrote about in our note on the 30 September milestone. Rail and road reaching the same points is what turns two separate systems into one transfer network, and it is the same logic behind the cross border line to Oman described in our piece on the UAE to Oman railway entering trials in late 2027.
Alongside these, Dubai is building 162 kilometres of new metro on the Blue and Gold lines at AED 55 billion, covered in our article on the metro expansion. Taken together, the announcements of 2026 describe a single inland transport belt rather than four unrelated projects.
What this means for companies operating in the UAE
Nothing changes for a business in 2026. There is no new route to drive, no toll to budget for and no change to any licence, permit or customs procedure. What the approval does is fix a fact that location decisions can be measured against for the rest of the decade.
Three practical points follow from that. First, warehousing and light industrial sites along the inland belt, in Dubai Industrial City, Dubai South, Jebel Ali and the Sharjah side of the boundary, will sit on a grade separated corridor rather than on roads that feed into existing radials. Second, staff commuting between the northern emirates and the southern half of Dubai is one of the real constraints on hiring for warehouse and terminal operations, and a published expectation of up to 60% less travel time speaks directly to it. Third, road freight between Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah gains an additional grade separated route, which affects how a distribution operation is planned but changes neither duties nor clearance procedure.
None of this is a reason to restructure an operation now. It is a reason to know the alignment before signing a long warehouse lease or choosing a jurisdiction. Where goods physically move is one of the inputs into the choice between a free zone and a mainland licence, and our guide on mainland and free zone companies in the UAE sets out how that decision is actually made.
What has not been announced
- The date construction starts and the date either phase opens to traffic.
- The value of phase two and the total cost of the corridor.
- The contractor or contractors and the tender timetable.
- Whether any section will be tolled, and at what points.
- The interchange list: which existing roads the corridor will meet, and where.
- The exact alignment on the ground, which determines whose plots and communities are affected.
Until those are published, the corridor is an approved project with a specification and a first phase budget, not a road that can be factored into a delivery schedule.
How Atlant Capital can help
Companies positioning around the new inland belt tend to arrive with the same set of questions, and they are answered before the concrete is poured rather than after.
- Choosing the jurisdiction and the activity codes for a trading, warehousing or transport company, including whether a free zone or a mainland licence matches the way the goods actually move. See company setup in the UAE.
- Structuring a group that holds property or leases in one emirate and trades in another, so ownership and invoicing match the physical operation.
- Opening and maintaining corporate accounts for a logistics or trading business, usually the longest step in the whole process. See bank account opening.
- Residency and work permits for the staff who will run a warehouse, a yard or a terminal operation. See work visas and residency.
Conclusion
Dubai has committed to an 80 kilometre, 12 lane corridor with 72 bridges and 17 tunnels, running from the Abu Dhabi boundary to the Sharjah boundary and connecting to both Al Maktoum International Airport and Etihad Rail. The first phase is budgeted at AED 3.5 billion, capacity is put at 24,000 vehicles per hour and the expected effect on travel time is a reduction of up to 60% for more than 3.1 million residents. What is missing is every date: when work starts, when either phase opens and what phase two costs. For a company choosing where to put a warehouse or a head office in the next few years, the useful response is to treat the alignment as settled and to wait for the schedule before assuming anything about timing.
Source: Khaleej Times, Gulf News.
FAQ
What is Dubai’s Fourth Corridor?
The Fourth Corridor is a new 80 kilometre motorway approved on 16 September 2026 by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. It runs from Al Faya Road at the Abu Dhabi boundary to Al Shanouf Road at the Sharjah boundary, carrying 12 lanes in both directions with 72 bridges, 17 tunnels and 45 stormwater drainage culverts. It is the fourth inter emirate axis after E11, E311 and E611.
How much does the Fourth Corridor cost?
The first phase, from Al Shanouf Road in Sharjah to Dubai-Al Ain Road, is valued at AED 3.5 billion. The second phase runs from Dubai-Al Ain Road to Al Faya Road in Abu Dhabi and its value has not been published, so the total cost of the corridor is not yet known.
How much time will the new Dubai corridor save?
The published expectation is a reduction in journey times of up to 60%. Capacity is put at up to 24,000 vehicles per hour in both directions and the road is planned to serve more than 3.1 million residents. No date has been announced for when either phase opens to traffic, so the saving applies from opening rather than from now.
Will the Fourth Corridor connect to Al Maktoum International Airport and Etihad Rail?
Yes. Both connections were named in the approval announcement. The corridor will link to Al Maktoum International Airport, which is being expanded into the sole passenger hub for Dubai, and to the Etihad Rail national network. The stated purpose includes support for the logistics and commercial transport sectors by adding a major route for moving people and goods between the emirates.
