Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has secured a grant of JPY2.44 billion (about Shs63 billion) from the Japanese government to help the authority in handling the traffic jam. project aims at easing movement in and out of the capital city, which currently lays hold of traffic congestion during the rush hours and in the rainy seasons.
As stated in the press statement issued by KCCA yesterday, some of the major interferences that would be undertaken to ease traffic flow include the setup of a traffic control centre at City Hall, signalisation of up to 27 junctions and the removal of five roundabouts.
The different roundabouts include the Mulago, Mulago Mortuary, Rwenzori Courts, Grand Imperial, Mulago and Kubiri.
KCCA said the project is a Japanese traffic control system named Management of Origin-Destination Related Adaptation for Traffic Optimisation (MODERATO).
“MODERATO will lead to the operationalisation of the traffic control centre and signalisation of junctions’ project, aimed at curbing the menacing challenge of traffic congestion, into, within and out of the City’s Central Business District,” the statement read in part.
“This is part of the technical cooperation project named “The Project for Capacity Enhancement of KCCA in Management of Traffic Flow in Kampala City” launched between KCCA and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2015,” continued in the statement.
Mr Thadeus Musoke Nagenda the Chairperson of Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), welcomed the development.
Mr. Thadeus said, “Many Ugandans have been complaining about traffic because of its negative impacts majorly on business. The time someone takes travelling from one place to another is so costly.
He continues that, this implies that the issue of traffic should be handled as soon as possible. KCCA should also construct more flyovers to ease traffic flow within the city centre.
Lets all hope this will help even students attending day section to reach school early due to reduction in traffic congestion.
Ms Dorothy Kisaka the KCCA Executive Director, said the project is part of the authority’s campaign of prompting a smart city for all the Ugandans.
“We are building a smart city, a transformational initiative focusing on enhancing service delivery, improving the efficiency of our systems and services and propelling KCCA towards the achievement of its strategic plan,” she said.
She added that, “This traffic control centre and streamlining of traffic flow is yet another of the various examples of leveraging technology twinned with infrastructure for our people’s wellbeing.”
How of which the centre is expected to operate
The centre is a three-storey building where the basement and ground floor will be used as parking and storage spaces for about 12 cars, eight motorcycles while the traffic control centre function is placed in the first and second floors.
In the control room, a large monitor shall be installed, which is placed on the top floor. This room shall be fitted with access control technology using contactless cards. There is a waiting room for traffic police closely positioned in case of VIP support and disaster management.
There is also a space that can accommodate a maximum of 30 people, on the top floor, where people can tour the control room and be educated on traffic rules and manners through videos showing examples of traffic signals, traffic signs and traffic accidents.
The MODERATO will also function as a traffic information collection and provision system and is the nucleus of the integrated traffic control system which is part of the universal traffic management system.
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