Traffic along Northern bypass to be diverted for two months

Uganda National Roads Authority has announced that there will be diversion of traffic along the Northern bypass for two months to enable ongoing works on the highway continue.

In a notice, UNRA says there will a diversion on a section of the road that takes effect Friday January 25, 2019.

“Traffic approaching from the Kampala- Entebbe Expressway, Busega and Mityana road will be diverted to the substantially completed section of the Kampala northern bypass .Motorists approaching Busega from the Sentema roundabout will also be diverted to the substantially completed new section of the bypass,” reads the notice in part.

According to UNRA, the main Northern bypass highway will be blocked and traffic diverted to nearby roads constructed to accommodate vehicles as the works on the main highway continue.

“This will enable the contractor proceed with the physical works geared towards  the completion of the second phase of the project  and the general public is hereby notified that this diversion will continue for a period of two months before normal traffic flow can resume.”

The ongoing second phase of the Kampala Northern Bypass which commenced in July 2014 with an original completion date of July 2017 was shifted for another four years ahead after land wrangles crippled the project.

The project initially projected to be completed in three years by November 2018 stood at 51%.

Government through its implementing agency the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) undertook to construct the first phase of the Kampala Northern Bypass project between 2004 and 2009 with grant support from the European Union (EU) of EUR 52.2 million

The first phase of construction of the Kampala Northern bypass was completed in October 2009 and was co-financed by the Government of Uganda and the European Union through a EUR 40 million grant blended with a EUR 7.2 loan from the European Investment Bank.

Meanwhile, the second phase project is intended to improve urban mobility in and around Kampala through a capacity increase of the Northern Bypass and to relieve congestion on this vital Northern Corridor Route, reducing travel time and vehicle operating costs and improve road safety.

The project is intended to turn the bypass from the original 2-lane single carriageway road to 4-lane dual carriageway road through the construction of a 17.5km additional carriage way.

The expansion will also see; the construction of 3 new footbridges at Kyebando, Ntinda, and at Naalya. These are intended to allow safe crossing of pedestrians across the road, construction of 6 new grade separated interchanges at Sentema, Hoima, Gayaza, Bukoto – Kyebando, Ntinda and Naalya roads to separate the express traffic along the Northern bypass.