The Entebbe–Kampala Expressway, also known as the "Kampala–Entebbe Expressway" or the "Entebbe–Kampala Highway", is a four-lane toll highway in the Central Region of Uganda.[2] The highway links Entebbe International Airport, the country's largest civilian and military airport, to Kampala, the country's capital and largest metropolitan area. Originally, the highway was planned for commissioning in 2016, but because of the delayed works, commissioning was done on 15 June 2018 by Uganda's sitting president, Yoweri Museveni.[3] In January 2023, the Uganda Minister for Works and Transport, Gen. Katumba Wamala launched the toll point at Kajjansi along Kampala–Entebbe Road.[4]
| Entebbe–Kampala Expressway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 32 mi (51 km) |
| History | Designated in 2012 Completion in 2018[1] |
| Major junctions | |
| South end | Entebbe International Airport |
| Abayita Ababiri Kajjansi | |
| North end | Busega |
| Location | |
| Country | Uganda |
| Highway system | |
Location
edit
The highway starts at Entebbe International Airport and continues to Mpala, goes through Akright City, Kajjansi, and Kabojja, and ends at Busega, where it joins the Kampala Northern Bypass Highway, a distance of approximately 37.23 kilometres (23 mi). A spur branches off the highway at Kajjansi to connect to Munyonyo, a suburb of Kampala, located on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, a distance of about 14.13 kilometres (9 mi). The entire highway is a four-lane, dual carriage expressway, with limited access.[5]
Overview
editThe Kampala Entebbe Expressway was constructed with the overall strategy of decongesting the Greater Kampala Metropolitan area.[6] It is the first toll road in Uganda and it provides an alternative to the free existing surface road, known as the Kampala–Entebbe Road, or simply Entebbe Road which is narrow, congested, and not sufficient to handle the heavy traffic traversing it.[7] The expressway is gated and vehicles that access it have to pay a toll charge.[8]
History
editIn 2009, the Government of Uganda (GOU) began consultations with the Government of the People's Republic of China regarding the construction of a four-lane (dual-carriage) highway connecting Entebbe and Kampala. In November 2010, the two governments signed an agreement where the Chinese government, through the Exim Bank of China, would lend up to US$350 million for the construction of the highway, repayable over forty years.[9] The contract was awarded to China Communications Construction Company, which also constructed the Soroti-Lira Road.[10] Construction began in 2012.[11]
Construction costs
editIn 2012, the expressway was estimated to cost US$476 million (UGX:1.19 trillion).[12] Of this, US$350 million (UGX:875 billion) is a loan from the Exim Bank of China at 2 percent annual interest.[12] The remaining US$126 million (UGX:315 billion) was provided by the GOU.[12] GOU has already, or will provide in the future, another UGX:123 billion to compensate land owners along the expressway route.[13]
Developments
editOn 21 November 2012, the president of Uganda commissioned the beginning of construction of the highway at a ceremony at Kyengera, along the Kampala-Masaka road.[14] The EastAfrican reported in August 2017 that completion was scheduled for May 2018.[15] The Daily Monitor made a similar report in November 2017.[16] The completed road was commissioned on Friday 15 June 2018.[17][18]
The completed road had to wait for the installation of toll-paying technology at the payment booths and the passage of the law authoring the building and use of toll roads.[3] A new completion date had been put at 16 November 2018.[19] However, the expressway opened to the public, effective 15 June 2018.[20] It was expected that collection of toll fees on this highway would begin in January 2020.[21][22]
In February 2021, the Daily Monitor reported that the French company Egis Road Operation SA, a member of the Egis Group conglomerate, had been selected to design, install, operate and maintain the highway's toll-collection system. The company will retain a percentage of the toll fees in exchange for its services.[23]
Collection of toll fees on the expressway, ranging from USh:5,000 (US$1.4) to USh:18,000 (US$5.00), depending on the size of the vehicle, began on 8 January 2022.[24]
In March 2022, Egis Roads Operation SA, began the process of installing street lighting along the entire 51 kilometres (32 mi) expressway.[25]
At the end of May 2022, it was reported by PML Daily that Egis, the road management company had collected over USh13 billion (approx. US$3.5 million), in the first five months of operation, averaging 20,000 vehicles daily.[26][27]
Points of interest
editThe following points of interest lie close or near the Entebbe–Kampala Expressway:[28] (1) the town of Entebbe in Wakiso District (2) the settlement of Abayita Ababiri in Wakiso District (3) the community of Akright City in Wakiso District (4) settlement of Kabojja in Wakiso District (5) neighborhood of Busega in Lubaga Division in the city of Kampala, where the highway will join the Kampala Northern Bypass Highway (6) neighborhood of Kajjansi in Wakiso District, where an arm of the highway will branch off to Munyonyo, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria (7) the suburb of Munyonyo in Makindye Division, in Kampala, where an arm of the highway ends.[28]
Vehicle numbers
editThe vehicular traffic that accesses the expressway every month, has been made public, since January 2022. The table below illustrates the traffic trends across this road.[29]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 480,234 | — |
| Feb | 574,629 | +19.7% |
| Mar | 594,124 | +3.4% |
| Apr | 557,066 | −6.2% |
| May | 627,479 | +12.6% |
| Jun | 590,582 | −5.9% |
| Jul | 594,775 | +0.7% |
| Aug | — | |
| Sep | — | |
| Oct | — | |
| Nov | — | |
| Dec | — | |
| source:[29] | ||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ New Vision (15 June 2018). "Entebbe Express Highway Breathes Life". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ Edris Kiggundu (5 April 2015). "Entebbe-Kampala Highway: What Is Done So Far". The Observer (Uganda). Kampala. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ a b Ampurire, Paul (16 June 2018). "Museveni, China's Wang Yang Commission Uganda's First Ever Expressway". Kampala: Soft Power Uganda. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- ^ KEE (8 January 2023). "Egis Road Operations celebrates one year with a collection of Shs34b from Kampala-Entebbe Expressway". Kampala Entebbe Expressway (KEE). Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ Vision Reporter (10 May 2014). "Kampala-Entebbe Highway on Track, Chinese Want to Build Railway Line". New Vision. Kampala. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ "UNRA wishes to engage an operator for the Operation and Maintenance of the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway Project (51.4 km)". www.unra.go.ug. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ Nkurunziza, Andrew (10 September 2010). "Entebbe Road is a national Embarrassment". Daily Monitor Mobile. Kampala. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ^ Muhwezi, Naboth (31 March 2014). "Entebbe-Kampala Expressway: Ugandans could get a better deal". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- ^ Ojambo, Fred (10 November 2009). "China to Build, Manage Toll Road in Ugandan Capital". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Kafeero, Stephen (4 August 2012). "Planned Entebbe Highway Sparks Housing Boom". The Independent (Uganda). Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Ogwang, Joel (19 June 2014). "Private company to manage Kampala- Entebbe expressway". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
- ^ a b c Kafeero, Stephen (4 August 2012). "Planned Entebbe highway sparks housing boom". The Independent. Kampala. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Kiggundu, Edris (5 April 2015). "Entebbe–Kampala Highway: What is done so far". The Observer (Uganda). Kampala. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
- ^ Bwambale, Taddeo (22 November 2012). "Museveni Commissions Kampala-Entebbe Road". New Vision. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Olingo, Allan (23 August 2017). "Sense of urgency as EA region upgrades its roads, airports". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ Adengo, Jonathan (30 November 2017). "Kampala-Entebbe Expressway to reduce travel time by 300%". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ Lyu Tianran, Zhang Gaiping and Ronald Ssekandi (15 June 2018). "Feature: Chinese-built expressway speeding up traffic to Uganda's gateway". Beijing: Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ Uganda Dispatch Staff (8 June 2018). "Entebbe Expressway to be commissioned next week". Kampala: Uganda Dispatch. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ Musisi, Frederic (17 June 2018). "Museveni Launches Entebbe Expressway". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ^ Tamale, Raymond (23 June 2018). "Why Ugandans are excited about the new highway". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ Paul Ampurire (18 September 2019). "Collection Of Toll Fees On Kampala Entebbe Expressway To Start January 2020". Kampala: SoftPower Uganda. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ Jonathan Kamoga (23 September 2019). "Uganda Road Toll To Start In January". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ^ Arthur Arnold Wadero (18 February 2021). "French firm to collect road toll on Entebbe Expressway". Kampala. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ Jonathan Kamoga. "Uganda starts collecting road toll on Kampala-Entebbe road". The East African. Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ Noelyn Nassuuna (25 March 2022). "Over 1,000 Poles, Lamps, Procured To Light Up Entebbe Expressway". 93.3 KFM Uganda. Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Javira Ssebwami (30 May 2022). "Kampala-Entebbe Expressway: EGIS road operation Uganda at 1!". PML Daily. Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- ^ Ceasar Abangirah (24 May 2022). "Road safety remains a priority at Kampala - Entebbe Expressway". Daily Monitor. Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- ^ a b Leni, Xanthia (13 June 2018). "After 72 months, Kampala–Entebbe Expressway launches Friday". Kampala: PML Daily. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ a b The Independent, Uganda (22 August 2022). "Gov't not hitting Entebbe Expressway targets". The Independent (Uganda). Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 24 August 2022.