ADM completes 90% of Onwani project in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business

The Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport, represented by of Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM) installed more than 68,696 of columns, columns foundations and signboards of Onwani project in Abu Dhabi, achieving a completion rate of 90%. As many as 1,283 street names were approved out of 6,739 streets in total, which equals 19%; and work is under way to complete naming other streets as planned.
Onwani project signals the commitment of the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport (DMAT) to adopt the latest means of way-finding, and activate e-services to provide a new addressing system that ensures easy and rapid accessibility. The project also reflects the DMAT’s keenness to provide alternatives that meet the requirements of community and development alike.
The Unified Addressing and Wayfinding System (Onwani) will contribute to boosting economic growth within the framework of Abu Dhabi’s 2030 plan, and realizing its objectives of nurturing a sophisticated and sustainable global community. It also constitutes a key step in the DMAT’s drive to provide smart infrastructure capable of facilitating access and mobility in all streets and areas of the emirate.
The Municipality has made great strides in implementing Onwani Project, as many street name signboards and building numbers have been installed covering parts of Al Bateen, Al Nahyan, Al Bahya, and New Al Falah area with a completion rate of 100%. Street name signboards and building numbers have been fully installed in the highways in Abu Dhabi Island, and 65,764 building number signs have been installed in Abu Dhabi, with a completion rate of 99%. 11,594 column foundations and internal street name signboards have been installed, marking a completion rate of 97%. 1,336 street name signboards out of the approved street names have been installed totaling 16,290, equaling 8% completion rate.
The new addressing system has been further improved by adding Street – Road Number of main streets to the signboards hanging on traffic lights in Abu Dhabi Island as a means of spatial guidance, in addition to the addressing system based on street naming and building numbering to further facilitate accessibility.
These numbers, which will facilitate movement and guidance, can easily be memorized, with the odd numbers sequence starting from the Corniche Street lengthways, while the even numbers sequence starts from Khalifa Al Mubarak Street across Abu Dhabi Island. The odd-numbered roads system on signboards is similar to the old numbering system, with the Corniche Street in the north-west carrying number (1) and Al Dhafeer Street in the south-east carrying number (31). The even numbers have been modified in order to facilitate traffic movement, with Khalifa Al Mubarak Street in Al Bateen area replacing number (2), while street number (4) has been renamed as King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (Al Salam Street) carries number 24 of the ascending serial numbering of the paralleling streets up to the north-east of Abu Dhabi Island.
As part of the DMAT’s vision, the Municipality has equipped the signboards with QR code, their coordinates have been registered with high resolution; and they are now 100% ready to locate destinations using online mapping service, besides sending and sharing locations via e-mail and social networking (Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.). In addition, they can be integrated with information systems and databases for the benefit of public and private institutions in general, and emergency, ambulance, infrastructure networks, statistics, business licenses, postal services, and logistics companies in particular.
The Municipality confirmed that it would go ahead with its systematic plan towards completing the new addressing system in Abu Dhabi, pointing out that Onwani system echoed the cherished objective of ranking Abu Dhabi at the forefront of world’s cities by enforcing the highest international standards adopted in addressing and wayfinding system.