Lusaka decongestion project takes off
THE Lusaka Decongestion Project (LDP) which has commenced on the Kafue road at Makeni will help reduce traffic, time travel and travel distances. Workers found drilling on the Great North Road near Cosmopolitan Mall, said the project was extensive and would take more than a year to complete. According to the workers, the road project is co-financed by Government at 15 percent and Exxim Bank of India at 85 percent and is aimed at redesigning the major road networks for Lusaka city with a view to reducing traffic and save fuel is scheduled to take 36 months to completion. This is a dream that is being realised this year having been conceived in 2008 when the Ministry of Local Government, through the Lusaka City Council and the Japan International Cooperation Agency re-planned the road network. The total road works are 120.7 km with dedicated bus lanes on the middle of the road. Rehabilitation and upgrading of 91.4 km of ring road would include a new outer ring road from Kafue Road (Makeni) to new Mumbwa Road. It will further stretch to Lusaka West and join the Great North Road (Kabwe road) on Chikumbi road. There will be four Grade separators or top-deck roads at four selected points of the city, namely; Kafue road (Makeni junction), Kafue round about, Kabwe roundabout, and Arcades roundabout. Other four points of road expansion will be Church-Cairo junction, Kabulonga roundabout, High court roundabout, Longacres roundabout and Mosi-OaTunya. Roads such as Kasangula, Lake-Mwapona, Nangwenya, Zambezi, Alick Nkhata, MunaliMutumbi Kamloops and Buyantanshi would be extended to four lanes. Further, Ben-Bella, Kafue, Great East (Kabwe roundabout -Palm Drive), Independence and Kalambo roads will be extended to six lanes and modern streetlights installed.