Prime
Poor state of roads in Kampala City set to become history
Author, Daniel M Nuweabine. PHOTO/FILE.
What you need to know:
- Mr Daniel N Nuweabine says: KCCA is set to start repairs and construction of more than 70km of city roads.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has embarked on an exercise to repair city roads that are in a sorry state. The move by KCCA is to make City roads motorable and reduce on peak hour traffic congestion, which has persistently affected the city dwellers mobility and productivity.
It should be noted that 75 per cent of the 600km of paved road network has outlived its design life and is exhibiting failures such as potholes and edge distress.
The failures are worsened by poor drainage systems, increased traffic load and extreme weather conditions such as heavy rain that have eroded the road surfaces.
Poor solid waste management has contributed to the road and drainage channel deterioration.
Once garbage; decomposable waste, plastic and polythene are irresponsibly discarded, it ends up in the drainage system causing blockage, water stagnation and road erosion, which affects mobility in the city.
Relocation of utility services such as water, sewerage, electricity, fibre optic cables along roads and junctions have also had earthworks block both the roads and drainage systems significantly hence slowing traffic and causing flooding.
This has been experienced at Clock Tower Entebbe Road, Mukwano Road, Mulago roundabout and Bombo Road (Kubiri roundabout) where signalised traffic junctions are to be installed. KCCA is working closely with utility companies to expedite their works.
The poor state of the roads has caused unqualified losses to the city, its dwellers and those that transit through it. About $800m is lost annually in vehicle maintenance. Close to $1.5m a day is lost in travel time and traffic delays while another to $100 to $200m is lost by businesses and damage to property across the city each year.
Accordingly, KCCA spends close to Shs30b each year for road maintenance works to avert the above losses by ensuring that the roads are in motorable condition as we mobilise resources to embark on a comprehensive overhaul of the road network.
The road maintenance works include patching (pothole repairs of paved roads), grading and gravelling of unpaved roads. Some of the roads under repair by both our in-house engineers and contractors include Port Bell, Spring road, Lubiri ring road, 6th Street, 8th Street, 7th Street, Old Kira, Namuwongo, Yusuf Lule, Ben Kiwanuka, Roscoe, Press house, Ggaba road, Sentema, Kalema, Sir Apollo Kaggwa, Alice Kaggwa, Nabweru and Bombo roads.
KCCA is set to start repairs and construction of more than 70km of city roads with a funding of $260m from the African Development Bank by June.
KCCA is in the advanced stages of procuring contractors to undertake works on roads such as Wamala, Luwafu, Kabega, Muteesa, Old Mubende, Kigala, Port Bell and Spring road. Other roads to be rehabilitated include Salaama, Sentema, and Kyebando Ring Road, among others.
Under the second Kampala Institutional and Infrastructure Development Project (KIIDP 2) financed by the government and the World Bank, KCCA is completing works on Kulambiro Ring Road, Najeera Link and Tuuba-Kyanja road; Kabuusu-Bunamwaya-Lweza; John Babiiha road (Acacia Avenue), Ntinda-Nakawa road and Lukuli road.
These infrastructure developments are in tandem with Kampala Capital City Strategic Plan 2020/2021 to 2024/2025, which was launched in September 2020.
The strategic plan is anchored on four pillars that is, economic growth, governance and citizen engagement, quality of life and city resilience.
It is against these that KCCA has set a goal that “by June 2025 Kampala will be an inclusive, livable, resilient and well-planned city that provides economic opportunities to all.”
Mr Daniel Muhumuza Nuweabine is the acting head of public and corporate affairs, Kampala Capital City Authority. [email protected]
