The main highway from Masaka to Giporoso, in the City of Kigali, will be expanded to four lanes – from the current two lanes – to check the ever-increasing traffic on that major route, Infrastructure Minister Jimmy Gasore said on Saturday, January 20.
He was speaking during Isesenguramakuru programme on Radio Rwanda where focus was on the role of the National Dialogue (Umushyikirano) in the country’s development.
The 19th edition of Umushyikirano, a two-day session, will start on Tuesday, January 23.
The Minister said that the narrowness of roads is one of the factors that lead to traffic congestion in Kigali.
"For instance, it is obvious that the road from Masaka to Giporoso is narrow compared to the vehicles that need to use it. But we are lucky that it will start being expanded to four lanes this year [2024]. We hope it [traffic congestion] will ease because people around there have major road-related issues which we also observe every day,” he said.
During the radio programme, the Minister did not provide details such as the exact dates for the project, how much money will be invested in the road upgrade, and expropriation-related expenses.
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Meanwhile, on June 18, 2019, the Governments of Rwanda and China signed a grant agreement worth $42.8 million (approx. Rwf54 billion) that will among others, finance the expansion and rehabilitation of 10 kilometers of the Prince House-Giporoso-Masaka road section. Its expansion would see the road transformed from a two-way-two-lane highway to a two way-four-lane, a move that would significantly decongest traffic along the road.
The revamped road will link the city center to Kigali Special Economic Zone as well as Masaka inland port, and help reduce time and cost of transport.
Minister Gasore observed that the poor state of road junctions is also among factors that hold up traffic in the City of Kigali. To address the problem, he said, the City of Kigali is working with JICA "on how we can improve road junctions and traffic lights” such that traffic can be further eased.
Gasore also talked about the implementation of the resolution of the 18thUmushyikirano whereby the government pledged to procure more than 300 buses to address transport issues in Kigali. He said that the government ordered for 200 buses as an initial procurement, indicating that 100 diesel-powered buses had already been shipped into the country.