Kampala–Jinja Expressway

Kampala–Jinja Expressway
Route information
Length: 47.9 mi (77.1 km)
History: Designated in 2015
Completion expected in 2025
Major junctions
West end: Nakawa
East end: New Jinja Bridge, Njeru
Highway system
Roads in Uganda

The Kampala–Jinja Expressway, also known as the Jinja–Kampala Expressway, is a proposed four-lane toll highway in Uganda, linking Kampala, the capital and largest city 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 Namanve and Mukono in Mukono District, and end at the New Jinja Bridge in Njeru.[2] The entire expressway will be a four-lane, dual carriageway, with limited access.[3]

Overview

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. The 77 kilometres (48 mi) expressway will pass to the south of the existing Kampala–Jinja Highway and is planned as a toll-road.

In 2010, the Ugandan government engaged the World Bank as transaction adviser. They hired Integrated Transport Planning (ITP), a United Kingdom-based transportation consulting firm, to conduct feasibility studies and road design. 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 the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) in the management of PPP preparation, procurement, and implementation.[4]

History

Construction was 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.[5]

The exact cost of the project has not been finalized. Estimates have varied from UGX:800 billion[6] to a high of UGX:5.5 trillion (US$1.5 billion).[2][7]

In June 2014, the UNRA selected the International Finance Corporation as lead transaction advisor to assess the potential to develop the 77 kilometres (48 mi) expressway on a public private partnership basis. Spea Engineering was hired to assist UNRA select one or more investors to design, build, finance, and operate the expressway.[8] 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 expressway as a priority project, one of the six infrastructure projects to be developed before 2020. COMESA allocated US$74 million in funding towards its development.[9]

See also


References

  1. ↑ "UNRA: Construction of the Kampala–Jinja Expressway". The Observer (Kampala). Observer Media. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 Rwothungeyo, Billy (28 April 2015). "Kampala-Jinja Expressway Tender To Be Advertised In May". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Baguma, Raymond (26 October 2012). "Kampala-Jinja highway planned for redevelopment". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Ogwang, Joel (12 April 2013). "Govt joins World Bank to build $1.5b road projects". New Vision. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Musoke, Ronald (18 January 2014). "Is Shs9bn road repair a waste?". The Independent (Uganda). Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Musisi, Frederic (23 October 2013). "Kampala–Jinja Express Highway to Cost Shs800 Billion". Daily Monitor (Kampala). Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Musisi, Frederic (23 January 2016). "Uganda: Work On Shs5 Trillion Jinja Expressway to Start in March". Daily Monitor via AllAfrica.com. Kampala. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  8. ↑ SEI (June 2014). "Uganda – Kampala Jinja Expressway PPP: Technical & Traffic Consultants". Spea-engineering.it (SEI). Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Nakaweesi, Dorothy (21 July 2014). "Comesa earmarks Shs190 billion for Kampala–Jinja highway expansion". Daily Monitor (Kampala). Retrieved 21 July 2014.

External links

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