Kampala–Jinja Expressway

Kampala–Jinja Expressway
Route information
Length: 46.6 mi (75.0 km)
History: Designated in 2015
Completion expected in 2019
Major junctions
West end: Nakawa
East end: New Jinja Bridge, Njeru
Highway system
Roads in Uganda

Kampala–Jinja Expressway, also known as Jinja–Kampala Expressway is a proposed four-lane toll highway in Uganda, linking the capital and largest city Kampala in the Central Region of Uganda with the town of Jinja in the Eastern Region of Uganda.[1]

Location

The expressway will start at Nakawa, a neighborhood in Nakawa Division, in the eastern part of Kampala, go through Mukono in Mukono District and Lugazi in Buikwe District and end at the New Jinja Bridge in Njeru. The entire expressway will be a four-lane, dual carriageway, with limited access.

Overview

The town of Jinja is Uganda's second industrial hub, after Kampala. The current Kampala-Jinja Highway, highway A109 on the map, forms part of the Northern Corridor of the Trans-Africa Highway, linking the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, Kenya with the Atlantic Ocean port of Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The section of A109 between Jinja and Kampala is the busiest and most congested road in Uganda. It is the main import/export route for land-locked Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DRC. In 2010, the Ugandan government engaged the World Bank as transaction advisor, and together, they hired Integrated Transport Planning (ITP), a UK-based transportation consulting firm, to conduct feasibility studies and road design. The 80 kilometre expressway will pass to the south of the existing Kampala-Jinja Highway and is planned as a toll-road. Government will compensate the landowners who will be displaced by the expressway. A core investor will be identified who will build, own, and operate the toll road for 25 years from the date of commissioning. This public-private-partnership (PPP) arrangement will be used on three other planned expressways, leading in and out of the nation's capital. Trademark East Africa, an affiliate of ITP, will provide oversight support to UNRA in the management of PPP preparation, procuremen, and implementation.[2]

History

Construction is expected to begin in 2015, with commissioning planned for 2020. The expressway will be a toll-road, with vehicles that use it needing fittings with electronic billing devices. The construction contract will be awarded once the core investor in the toll road is identified and approved.[3]

Construction costs

The exact cost of the project is not known as of July 2014. Estimates have varied from a low of US$320 million (UGX:800 billion) to a high of US$800 million (UGX:2.4 trillion). [4] This does not include funds needed to compensate and resettle people in the expressway's right-of-way.[5][6]

New developments

In July 2014, at the Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure that took place in Dakar, Senegal, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) identified the Kampala–Jinja Expressway as a priority project, one of the six infrastructure projects to be developed before 2020. COMESA allocated US$74 million in funding towards the development of the expressway.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "UNRA: Construction of the Kampala–Jinja Expressway". The Observer (Kampala). Observer Media. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Ogwang, Joel (March 2013). "Government Joins World Bank to Build $1.5B Road Projects". New Vision. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Musoke, Ronald (18 January 2014). "Is Shs9 Billion Road Repair A Waste?". The Independent (Uganda). Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Rwothungeyo, Bill (28 April 2015). "Kampala-Jinja Expressway Tender To Be Advertised In May". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Musisi, Frederic (23 October 2013). "Kampala–Jinja Express Highway to Cost Shs800 Billion". Daily Monitor (Kampala). Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "US$318 Million Jinja Express Highway". Construction Review Online. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Nakaweesi, Dorothy (21 July 2014). "Comesa Earmarks Shs190 Billion for Kampala–Jinja Highway Expansion". Daily Monitor (Kampala). Retrieved 21 July 2014.

External links