Plan to widen Kampala roads is welcome idea

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has announced it is set to embark on an ambitious project of upgrading and rehabilitating a total of 20 roads covering 46.7km in the city to dual carriageway ostensibly to accommodate the ever increasing traffic within and outside the city.
As part of the infrastructure and transport plan, KCCA is to overhaul the city transport system and procure 100 eco-friendly public buses to ease the congestion in the city.
The project funded by the African Development Bank to the tune of $240m (Shs888 billion) will include construction, upgrading, paving and dualling the selected roads to four lanes, while the selected junctions/intersections are to be signalised and street lights will also be installed.
It was noted that the city congestion results in higher vehicle operating costs, long travel times and poor transport services with the overall city aesthetics and quality of life being highly compromised by the dilapidated paved roads and sidewalks, unpaved shoulders and unpaved roads which are sources of mud and dust that hovers over large sections of the city.
The traffic congestion in Kampala is fast growing due to a combination of poor road networks, uncontrolled junctions and insufficient roads capacity which is out of phase with the increasing traffic on the city roads, KCCA notes.
Therefore, this master plan is a well thought-out project for any user of Kampala roads. The gridlock in the city, many times, brings traffic to a standstill, delaying all businesses and creating unwarranted costs as a result of consuming more fuel and stalling business activities.
The roads so far earmarked are busy roads that feed traffic to the city centre from the suburbs and from the different parts of the country. Upgrading roads, broadening and dualling them will greatly reduce the traffic jams that have become a nightmare for motorists trying to wade through the gridlock.
However, there are many minor roads that feed into the major city roads that are in a very deplorable situation. They help in decongesting the city by offering alternative routes to motorists, so as KCCA upgrades and rehabilitates the major city roads, they should also develop a plan to institute works on these feeding roads, some of which are ring roads, and this would ameliorate city transport to cut down on inconveniences arising from jams.
There are many intersecting roads in the city suburbs that motorists would use and avoid putting pressure on the few better roads that would even reduce their lifespan.