Gulf news today reported that Dubai will have some 580 kilometres of cycling and walking tracks on various roads in a bid to encourage people cover short distances without using private cars.

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has already completed a 14.6-kilometre walkway and cycling track on Jumeirah Beach as part of its plans to encourage walking and cycling culture in the city. reported the newspaper

“The walkways have been designed to link pedestrian crossings and metro stations with nearby buildings. Majority of the walkways within the congested parts of the city and commercial areas will be air-conditioned to enable people to use them even during extreme hot weather conditions,” said Abdul Mohsen Ebrahim, Chief Executive Officer of the RTA’s Strategic and Corporate Governance Sector.

He said the pedestrian walkways would be connected to one another to facilitate pedestrians walk from one area to the other with ease. “We are working on plans to make Dubai as a pedestrian-friendly city and it will have a total of 72 pedestrian crossings by the first quarter of 2010,” he added.

Currently, cycling is prohibited on main roads and cyclists are also fined for parking their cycles on pavements and locking them up with lamp posts because there are no parking spaces.