Entebbe express road toll fees to be managed by a French firm
By Angela Nyakuni
The government has awarded a French-based firm to manage the road toll collections and effect proper maintenance of the Entebbe Express Highway.
According to the Uganda National Roads Authority, Director in charge of Network Planning and Engineering, Eng Isaac Wani, the firm-Egis Roads Operation S. A- will commence work after the official signing ceremony in March this year.
He says the government is yet to determine how much will be levied on motorists plying the highway.
Eng Wani adds that one of the chapters in that tolling strategy relates to how much motorists will be expected to pay for the different classes of the roads to be plied on the express-way.
This, he says was based on the study and willingness to pay that was in a survey we accrued out and we made proposals on how much each class of the vehicles will pay.
In the same way, the UNRA Executive Director Allen Kagina has revealed that the government is making headway with Kampala-Jinja express highway.
The Kampala-Entebbe expressway connects Northern Bypass at Busega in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala to the country’s busiest airport, Entebbe International Airport.
Developed and maintained by the Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA), it is the first ever toll road in the country.
The Government of Uganda (GoU) began consultation with the Government of People’s Republic of China for the expressway project in 2009, which aims to improve traffic conditions on both bypass and distributor roads in urban areas, as well as enhance urban development.
Construction on the $476m expressway began in July 2012 and the road was opened to traffic in June 2018.
The toll road has four interchanges at Busega, Kajjansi, Mpala and Lwaza. It also features 19 overbridges and 18 underpasses to provide access to the area around the road.
A total of three main toll plazas are built on the expressway at Busega, Mpala and Kajjansi. The Busega toll plaza features six toll gates, while the Mpala and Kajjansi have five gates each.
Two suspension bridges, measuring 200m and 500m in length, were built over the Lubijji swamp in Busega and on the highway near Kyengera, respectively.
The highway also boasts of a 75m-long bridge at Kajjansi and a 1.45m-long suspension bridge over Nambigirwa swamp. The Nambigirwa bridge is supported by 240 pillars installed to a depth of 55m and has a lifespan of 100 years.