Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) has unveiled plans to demolish five roundabouts in Kampala as a means to curb traffic congestion this year.
The five roundabouts, which have been identified as traffic choke points, include Rwenzori Courts roundabout, Grand Imperial, Mulago, Mulago City Mortuary, and Mulago Ku Bbiri.
According to KCCA Spokesperson Simon Peter Kasyate, one of the most menacing challenges in Kampala City is traffic congestion into, within, and out of the city’s central business district, which has not only led to reduced productivity among the city’s workforce and business owners but has also led to an increase in travel affairs, road maintenance costs, as well as an increase in air pollution.
Kasyate added that the demolition of the roundabouts will help alleviate traffic congestion in Kampala and in the surrounding areas of the said roundabouts.
He also said that from Yusuf Lule to Fairway, the Uganda Golf Club roundabout was a simple roundabout, but now there is a junction, which has eased traffic congestion.
As part of this initiative, KCCA said that a traffic control tower has been put in place on the remaining 27 junctions, which the contractor is currently signalling.
”We started off with the Spear Motors Jinja Road, went to Katalima Road, Jinja Road, and now came down to the junction of Port Bell Road and Jinja Road. Now we are currently mobilized at the junction of Jinja Road, Jinja Road Police Station, which is Archer Road, and the junction that branches off to New Vision and areas of the third street industrial area,’’ Kasyate noted.
“Additionally, all traffic lights in the greater Kampala Metropolitan area will be connected to the traffic control centre, which will oversee the signalization of every junction in the city,” he added.
This will ensure that all traffic lights have a central command and can be controlled remotely, as opposed to the current system, in which each junction has its own on-site remote control center.
According to KCCA, the project has already commenced, and it will take two years to get done. It will cost about UGX 63 billion.
Kasyate concluded that once everything is done, KCCA will carry out mass sensitization on how to navigate around the junctions, where pedestrians shall be walking, and how motorists will be able to join certain lanes, so that at the end of the day, people within the realm of technology can avoid confusion on the roads and bumping into each other.
