In 1995, the Government of Uganda requested the Japanese government to provide a grant aid for the study on “Improvement of Trunk Roads at Kampala Urban Interface Sectionsâ€. This was aimed at alleviating traffic in Kampala City.
In response to the request, JICA conducted the Master Plan study and feasibility study from December 1996 to November 1997 with the purposes of improving the road network in Kampala City by 2015 which was in the plan the target year.
Besides the Master Plan JICA also conducted the Feasibility Study which was aimed at basic design of short-term urgent projects which were implemented in 2005 and are now visible in many areas that were the target for the particular aid.
During the studies, it was realized that traffic congestion in Kampala City was as a result of insufficient traffic capacity of junctions, frequent flooding of road sections and damage of pavements. To deal with these problems, five packages were proposed as short-term urgent projects.
The packages were in 1998-1999 where Ministry of Works & Transport made improvements on Portbell, Kibuye, Natete, wandegeya and Makerere Junctions. Under the second package which was conducted between (1999 - 2001), two roads were improved and these include Natete (3.8km) and Gaba (9.1 km).
The other three packages saw 4.8kms of Port bell road, 4.6km of Gayaza road and 8.5km of Hoima road and Jinja road Junction improved between the period of 2001-2005 according to the proposed plan.
Later in December 1997, government of Uganda requested that Package 1 and 2 be taken up for implementation under Japan’s Grant Aid. However, as a result of negotiations between the two governments, further study for only Port bell, Kibuye, Natete, Wandegeya and Makerere Junctions was conducted by JICA from April 1998 to September 1998.
The Exchange of Note for these roads was concluded between the two governments (Uganda and Japan) in November 1998. The detailed design of the project was carried out from December 1998 to April 1999, and the construction finally started in July 1999 and was completed in March 2000.
Subsequently, study for the improvement of Natete and Gaba roads was also conducted by JICA from March 2002 to August 2002. The Exchange Note for the Natete Road only was concluded in November 2002, and the construction started in April 2003 and completed in March 2004. Later, the Exchange Note for the Gaba Road was concluded in June 2003, and the construction completed in March 2005.
On the other hand, the Kampala City Council (KCC), recoganicing the Importance of alleviating traffic congestion in the city center through the above-mentioned projects, successfully implemented the “Kampala Urban Traffic Improvement Plan (KUTIP)†from 2001 to 2003 with a loan extended by the World Bank to support the initiative.
Against this background, Government Of Uganda requested the Japanese Government for the study on
“Improvement of Traffic Flow in Kampala City†under Grand Aid. The Project aimed at alleviating the severest traffic congestion in the Kampala City center by harmonizing the improvement plans proposed in KUTIP and JICA’s studies in and out of the city center.
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