Road works top city priorities

The City of Kigali has unveiled plans to construct new tarmac routes in and around the capital to improve access between the city centre and its outskirts.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The City of Kigali has unveiled plans to construct new tarmac routes in and around the capital to improve access between the city centre and its outskirts.The two year plan, estimated at Rwf 36.6bn (US$61m), will cover a distance of 47 km including new roads from the City centre (Kwarubangura) to Serena Hotel, Nyamirambo to Nyanza in Kikukiro, and Kimisange to Nyamirambo."We want to build on the successes of the last financial year by going straight ahead with programmes that enhance urbanisation, planned settlement and sustainable infrastructure,” Fidel Ndayisaba, the Mayor of Kigali, said in an interview yesterday.Ndayisaba added that although road construction went according to plan last year, Kigali’s hilly terrain poses great challenges to its infrastructural growth."A city with many hills looks beautiful, but it comes along with challenges that affect economic activities and also increases the cost of road construction. We hope that by the end of this financial year, the physical master plans for Gasabo and Kicukiro districts will be completed to enhance infrastructural growth.”Last year, the Council constructed 21.2 km of tarmac roads out of the planned 24.5 km to decongest the ever-busy city centre as part of a three-year program running from 2010 whose budget was Rwf 13 billion.To curb the surging traffic, the council will also rehabilitate and expand some main roads across the city such the Rwandex-Sonatube route and Chez Lando-Amahoro Stadium- KIE route, as well as a 34 km of new marrum roads in and around Kigali.In related news, the staff of city contributed Rwf 39 million to Agaciro Development Fund.