Tanzania has embarked on the implementation for
the construction of six flyovers in Dar es Salaam, aiming to decongest the
city.
“The country is currently undergoing the
challenges of congestions and in order to address that we are planning to build
at least six flyovers and overheads roads,” the Tanzania National Roads Agency
(TANROADS) chief executive officer, Mr. Patrick Mfugale said, adding that six
areas have been identified where there are road junctions.
He said the flyovers will
be built at Tazara, Ubungo, Magomeni, Fire, Kamata and Chang’ombe road
junctions.
According to Mr. Mfugale, the construction of the first flyover at
Tazara Intersection where Nyerere Road
crosses Nelson Mandela Road is expected to commence in September
this year following a grant of Tsh 52.2 billion ($ 32.6 million) that was
issued by Japan.
Tanzania and Japan have
already signed a grant of Tsh 1.1 billion ($ 688,261), for the detailed design
of the flyover project which is expected to be complete at the end of July this
year.
Mr. Mfugale explained that once the design is
complete, Japan will announce tender for a contractor in their country an
exercise that is expected to be completed within three months.
“Once the tender process of finding a contractor
from Japan is completed we expect to take off construction in September,” he
said.
However he declined to mention the time frame of
the construction because it will be determined by the design which is yet to be
completed.
“This fly over will contribute to alleviating the
existing traffic jams in Dar es Salaam, as well as to strengthening the role of
the Tanzanian road network as an international corridor connecting Dar es
Salaam Port and the nearby land-locked countries,” he said.
Mr. Mfugale explained that the next construction
is the Magomeni junction flyover that is expected to take off as soon as funds
are allocated.
According to him, fund is the barrier and they
were currently initiating for the implementation of detail designs to determine
the cost of the flyovers.
The government of Tanzania has allocated Tshs 28.6
million ($ 17 million) in this year’s fiscal budget to address the problems of
congestion in Dar es Salaam city.
The funds will be used for upgrading the city roads
while Tshs 1,000 million ($ 625,692) will be injected in the construction of
the Tazara flyover.
The Tazara flyover at the junction of Nyerere Road
and Mandela Expressway would have a big impact on the socio-economy because it
was aimed at reducing congestion in Dar es Salaam.
Alleviating traffic congestion has huge potential
to contribute the national economic growth. Dar es Salaam
city that continues to grow and become
increasingly commercial destinations and activities, so is the starting point
for all transport systems, including road, rail, air and maritime transport
systems.
Since
Dar es Salaam
is the metropolis of
Tanzania accounting for
more than 60% of national tax revenue of the country as a
whole, congestion has a huge
impact on the economy.
According to TWAWEZA (2010) report, reveal Nine
Solutions to Ease Congestion in Dar es Salaam including Different Vacation
Periods that it could be decided that school vacations do not all take place at
once.
“They could be split into periods of a few weeks,
with every zone starting their vacation on different dates,” the report reads.
Another solution is Restrict Cargo Traffic mean
that
restrict the
movement of large
(exceeding 10 tons) trucks
on busy route,
with high traffic, such
as Bagamoyo, Morogoro,
Nyerere and Mandela roads.
TWAWEZA says Restrict Traffic Entry points is
another solution whereby cars
should be allowed
to enter main
stream traffic only via
select roads/streets, with
no exiting or entering
traffic less than
100m from any major
traffic junction.
It says Redirected traffic, double lanes is also a
solution which by use uncongested inner-most lane to ease a congested side.
This
can
be used everywhere when double
lanes are available
and only one side
is congested, with
one traffic policeman after each 200m between
junctions.
Others are Passenger-friendly Bus Transport and
Priority traffic for buses.
“Other
traffic should be
allowed only when moving
at speeds greater
than 70 kilometer per hour” it
shows.
BY.Corporate-digest