Skip to main content

Plans in hand for Uganda’s key highway upgrade

In Uganda planning is underway for the upgrade of the Kampala-Jinja route. Preparations are being made for a new tolled highway connecting with capital Kampala. The upgrade will see the route being widened with four lanes for much of the length, six lanes on the approach to Kampala and up to eight lanes where vehicle densities will be heaviest to carry the capital’s traffic. The construction work is expected to cost some US$74 million and the new link will connect with the existing Kampala-Entebbe highway.
July 25, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

In Uganda planning is underway for the upgrade of the Kampala-Jinja route. Preparations are being made for a new tolled highway connecting with capital Kampala. The upgrade will see the route being widened with four lanes for much of the length, six lanes on the approach to Kampala and up to eight lanes where vehicle densities will be heaviest to carry the capital’s traffic. The construction work is expected to cost some US$74 million and the new link will connect with the existing Kampala-Entebbe highway. The work is needed as the current link between Kampala and Jinja suffers heavy congestion. Forming part of the Trans-African Highway, this stretch is not able to cope with the volumes of commuter and heavy goods traffic it currently handles. The upgrade forms part of a much wider plan to improve the Trans-African Highway in Uganda as well as its neighbours, Rwanda and Kenya. Once the entire project is complete, 10 years from now, a new highway will run from Rwanda’s capital Kigali, across the border with Uganda and through its capital Kampala. From there the highway will run to Uganda’s border with Kenya, where it will connect with its capital Nairobi and then carry on to the port of Mombasa. In all, the upgraded highway will be around 1,600km long. Kenya’s Government is already carrying out feasibility studies for the widening work needed on the Mombasa-Nairobi and Nairobi-Nakuru stretches of the Trans-African Highway. Once open, the highway will help connect landlocked Uganda and Rwanda to Kenya’s port of Mombasa, providing an important trade route. The port is expected to see a significant increase in the quantities of import and export goods it handles with the throughput likely to double to 44 million tonnes/year and it is also being upgraded accordingly. The Rwanda-Uganda-Kenya Trans-African Highway upgrade is one of several infrastructure projects agreed for joint development by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), having been first selected by the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

Related Content

  • Key A14 upgrade for the UK to cut congestion
    September 11, 2013
    A joint venture comprising BAM Nuttall and Morgan Sindall will carry out the 4km widening of the UK’s heavily congested A14 route. The €28.5 million (£24 million) project is being carried out for the Highways Agency to reduce journey times more reliable, improve safety and support proposed local development. Mott MacDonald will carry out the design work for the project. Junctions 7-9 of the A14 are highly congested at present due to a combination of heavy commuter traffic and the high percentage of HGVs car
  • Egypt’s new concrete highway connecting Cairo with Suez
    July 15, 2016
    CEMEX has played a key role in a highway construction job in Egypt. The company has supplied 130,000m3 of concrete that has been used for the construction of the new Cairo–Suez highway project. The project is of note as this is Egypt’s first concrete highway and if it proves successful, more are likely to be built using this construction method. The 35km road is of major importance to Egypt also as it connects the capital, Cairo, with the seaport city of Suez, two of the nation’s most important economic cen
  • US$2.1 billion Louisiana bridge deal for partners
    February 2, 2024
    A US$2.1 billion Louisiana bridge deal has been won by Sacyr, Acciona and Plenary Americas.
  • Widening of key highway planned for St Petersburg
    October 21, 2015
    Plans are underway to widen a stretch of the Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) around St Petersburg in Russia. The northern section of the WHSD, near Beloostrov, will be widened from four to six lanes. The work will be carried out by Northern Capital Highway (NCH), a consortium owned by VTB and Gazprombank. This consortium is currently building the central section of the WHSD, as well as operating the tolled northern and southern sections under a PPP concession agreement. The project will cost around US$15