The City of Kigali will effective next week start the implementation of car-free zones around the city in accordance with the master plan.

In a press briefing with Dr. Alphonse Nkurunziza, the City Engineer, he said that initially, the car-free zone will begin from Centenary House up to the road that leads to Ecole Belge.

It will eventually cover the entire Central Business District (CBD).

"We are doing this to decongest the area for businesses around. It will also ease the process of creating green transport areas within the city. We have identified places where people will park their cars as they transact businesses within that area,” he said.

This policy will take effect Monday and the planners intend to continue linking other streets to make a network for pedestrianisation.

"We are undertaking this project in phases as we seek to solve the problem of heavy traffic around the CBD. People will use back routes to access parking spaces in buildings such as Bank of Kigali, M Peace Plaza, Union Trade Centre and Kigali City Tower among others,” he added.

Nkurunziza noted that the feasibility studies have been conducted to ensure that this process does not inconvenience businesses, pedestrians and car owners around the city.

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