The Civil Engineering Contractor April 2019 | Page 13

INFRA AFRICA
EAST AFRICA NORTH AFRICA
KENYA MOROCCO
New interchange to ease Outer Ring traffic jams
The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) is set to build a new exchange linking the
Outer Ring Road and Thika Road to ease the traffic at the junction between the two
major highways. The new exchange is expected to restore the status of Outer Ring
Road, initially conceived as a game changer for the eastern part of Nairobi where a high
population density has led to heavy traffic over the years.
More than a year after the road was upgraded and opened for use, traffic jams have
worsened between Pipeline Estate and Kariobangi Junction, a section interspersed
with several pedestrian crossings and passenger picking spots. There have also been
several design afterthoughts, including the ongoing construction of a middle road on
the space between the two sides of the highway after street lights had been completed
at around the Umoja area.
The Kura, which is in charge of the road, said an interchange plan was mooted at after it
emerged that the link was not well thought out. The junction has one of the worst traffic snarl-
ups during peak hours. The Sh8.5-billion Outer Ring had also envisioned a 9m Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) connecting the Eastern Bypass to Thika superhighway, but a drive through the
highway shows that the allowance only exists on certain areas and missing in others. Outer
Ring Road, which was designed to be a congestion-relief highway, traverses two of the most
densely populated areas in the capital city: Nairobi East and Nairobi North districts. It was
estimated to serve at least 2.2-million people, more than half the city’s population. nn
EAST AFRICA
ETHIOPIA
Government to endorse construction site for new mega airport
Ethiopia’s Cabinet will soon endorse the selected construction site for the country’s
proposed new mega hub airport. Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Group is under preparation
to embark on the design and construction of a new international airport outside of Addis
Ababa that will have the capacity to handle 80-million passengers a year. A French consulting
firm, ADPI, has conducted a study on site selection and presented the selected site.
Ethiopian Airlines Group told The Reporter that the Cabinet will soon approve the
selected site. The proposed site called Abusera is located 19km on the right side
of the Tulu Dimtu Toll Road Booth on the Addis Ababa-Adama Expressway. The
proposed airport will include the construction of various other related infrastructures
that would make it an airport city. At the inauguration of the Addis Ababa Bole
International Airport passenger terminal expansion project and Ethiopian Skylight
Hotel, it was announced that there would be four parallel runways and a designed
capacity of handling 80-million passengers a year. The airport city will encompass
a large duty-free network for shopping, tourists’ entertainment centres, a business
centre, and real estate developments. It will also have logistics centres and star-rated
hotels. The airport is due for completion by 2030.
Once the Council of Ministers approves the Abusera site, ADPI will start working
on the airport master plan. The mega hub airport project could consume four billion
dollars. The mega international airport would make Ethiopia the leading aviation hub
in the region. nn
www.civilsonline.co.za
Connecting Morocco,
Algeria, Tunisia by
high-speed rail mooted
The secretariat general of the
Arab Maghreb Union (AMU)
has announced an international
campaign to attract international
investors to renovate railways
linking Morocco, Algeria, and
Tunisia. The AMU published
the statement on Facebook. The
secretariat said it was looking
to hire an adviser “whose task
is to accomplish the promotion
of the study on the economic
feasibility of the project, and to
communicate with international
banks, international companies,
and public and private sector
companies.”
The project would include
the renovation of the 363km
railway line between Morocco
and Algeria and another 503km
railway between Algeria and
Tunisia. The project was
previously proposed in 2015
when the Algerian National
Railway Transport company
talked of a high-speed line linking
Tunisia to Morocco via Algeria.
Al Jazeera reported that the
project might cost USD875-
billion. The AMU predicted
that such a project would revive
the hopes of the peoples of the
region for a Maghreb unity that
would bring them prosperity
and well-being.
Morocco maintains good
diplomatic ties with Tunisia, but
the Moroccan-Algerian border
has been closed since 1994. In
October 1963, the countries
fought the Sand War over the
border near Figuig in eastern
Morocco. Since then, the border
has only been open for six years
between 1988 and 1994. nn
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