Running parallel to the coastline starting from Trade Center Roundabout to the border of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Zayed Road is the leading 10 lane thoroughfare and most sought after business address both for accessibility and prestige reasons. Its entire stretch provided dimesion and visibility to the " New Dubai" synonymous with progress, ambition and vision. The Dubai World Trade Center Tower started it all and followed by other iconic towering structures like Emirates Towers, Fairmont Hotel,etc. The most ambitious one is Burj Dubai, which is presently above 150 floors and still "growing" , the final number of storeys still being kept as "secret" so that nobody will beat its bid to become the tallest building in the world when completed. Burj Dubai is now standing real tall near the now called 2nd Interchange whose previous name was Defence Roundabout. Sheik Zayed Road was also called Defence Road before its major redevelopment in the late 1990s and renamed after the then UAE President, Sheik Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
The first and second interchanges are dominated by highrise buildings of offices, residences and hotels line up in competition with each other in terms of height, structure and aesthetics, day and night. In between the 3rd and 4th Interchanges is the industrial stretch and car showrooms. Right at the 4th Interchange is Mall of Emirates famous for Ski Dubai, indoor facilities for snow ski and snow board sports. From 4th to 5th Interchange, you will find the Media and Internet Cities wherein businesses focused on these disciplines are clustered together.It is the interchange closest to Burj Al Arab. At the 5th Interchange is the Dubai Marina and to date the busiest interchange as to traffic due to the simultaneous construction activities. Beyond the 5th Interchange is the Ibn Battuta Mall and Jebel Ali Free Zone Area leading to Abu Dhabi farther.
