After I got my driver’s license in 2018, I loved driving around town, partly because of how liberating it felt to go places without having to ask my parents for a ride or to navigate different bus and metro routes, and partly because of how smooth driving in Dubai felt.
The eight-lane Sheikh Zayed Road, named after the UAE‘s former president and ruler, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, connects the whole country, making it convenient to drive and visit different parts of the city and country.
For those of us who’ve lived in Dubai long enough, we’ve seen the landscape surrounding SZR change drastically every year. In 2004, I could tell where a certain neighborhood in Dubai began by looking at the buildings we passed on the road.
The fact that it’s a single-long highway also means you only have to remember specific exits for your desired destination — you don’t even need Google Maps to navigate.
The joke among residents in Dubai is that as long as you’re on Sheikh Zayed Road, you will find your way home and never be completely lost.
But the biggest appeal, for me at least, is that, until 2020, traffic was light, and one could get from uptown Dubai — think North Harlem — to downtown Dubai — think Wall Street — in less than 20 minutes, barring any road accidents.