Plans to build a 256km expressway from Kenya to Uganda has kicked-off with the official handing over of feasibility study of the site by the East African Community (EAC) to consultancy firm-GOPA Infra Gmbh of Germany and ITEC Limited of Kenya.
- •The expressway will run from Kisumu in Kenya to Kakira, a town in Jinja district, Uganda.
- •The expressway is part of improvements on the Northern Corridor which provides landlocked East African nations faster access to Mombasa Port.
- •The feasibility study will cost US$ 1.5mn, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), and will take 18 months.
According to the EAC, the project will involve the rehabilitation of the existing two-lane single-carriageway to bitumen standards and its upgrading to a two-lane dual carriageway over a 104km stretch.
“It is our expectation that Partner States are also in the process of upgrading the other sections of the Nothern Corridor from Mombasa through Nairobi up to Malaba and from Kampala westwards towards Katuna and Mpondwe so as to achieve a uniform high level of service along the entire corridor,” EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors, Aguer Ariik Malueth said.
The rehabilitation along the EAC Northern Corridor is expected to contribute to strengthening road infrastructure within the EAC region to fast-track regional integration and spur cross-border trade. The EAC has 10 cross-border corridors that form the EAC Road Network Project totaling 15,000 kilometers.
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