Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Wudineh Zenebe
23 September 2008
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A 40Km wide road that spans a stretch of the railway line has been designed to allow for the easy flow of two-way traffic. This new road network is also expected to help in the spreading of industries, which have so far been concentrated in the southern and central parts of Addis, by making the areas along the road more lucrative.
Very soon, the city of Addis Abeba will have the widest road ever, currently under design stage, reliable sources disclosed to Fortune. When completed, the road will have a total of eight lanes on both sides of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Line, according to a senior official of the Federal Government.
The Addis Abeba City Roads Authority (AACRA) has commissioned the design of this road to Zewdie Eskinder (Eng.). It is planned to stretch from La Gare Railway Station, all the way down to the Ring Road at Kaliti. Zewdie is the same architect who designed the expansion of Africa Avenue (Bole Road), whose construction contract was recently awarded to a local construction firm, Eney Construction.
"The design is currently pending approval by the authority," Abera Shibiru, head of the Contract Administration Department with AACRA, confirmed to Fortune. "When the construction will start has still not been decided."
The 40m-wide road, to be built on both sides of the railway line has been designed to incorporate four two-way lanes roads on each side; it will allow the a two-way movement of vehicles without any interruption from the rail transport. The Authority was made to initiate this plan to bring a new road network into the system, due to concentration of industries, the majority of which are in the southern and central parts of the city in addition to being the busiest corridors handling incoming and outgoing trucks from and to the Port of Djibouti, according to Abera.
The new road is fully incorporated in the Addis Abeba City Master Plan, launched in 2000 and AACRA was to commission the design work, city transport officials said. The city's Master Plan proposes the relocation of the railway main station to the peripheral areas around Kaliti; if implemented, the railway line, at the centre of the new road would become defunct.
"The existing railway line is not economically and technologically feasible for use for the Light Railway Transport (LRT) which is expected to be implemented in Addis Abeba in the near future," an official knowledgeable about the newly initiated railway projects, who requested anonymity, told Fortune.
However, the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) has already floated a tender to award a turnkey project to install a railway line in Addis Abeba, which runs from Ayat Village in the east to Jimma-Ber in the west; and from Shiromeda in the north to Kaliti in the south. Representatives of 15 bidding companies that have shown interest at the beginning were invited to come up with ideas on how to integrate the existing railway line with their proposed plans, when they first met officials of the corporation three months ago, the official disclosed to Fortune.
"If these companies prefer to use this line, there will be a series of works to be done in the future," he said.
The newly proposed road will incorporate five bridges, some of which will have overpasses for the rail line, according to officials familiar with the design. This huge road construction will stretch along areas which mostly are not developed, although authorities foresee the demolition of properties along the railway line.
This road, to be constructed along the 100 years old railway line, is designed to make vast areas along the line that have been neglected more economically vibrant; and in particular, to upgrade the value of the land along the road and in the nearby villages, said the senior official from the Federal Government.
The Addis Abeba City Government has given a great deal of attention to road construction, a sector that claims close to 20pc from its total budget of 8.8 billion Br. However, what has been earmarked for the current year is only for projects whose construction have already been started, and for those whose construction contracts have already been signed.
The design works for the new road are expected to be finalized during this year after incorporating the architect's suggestions, should the authority have any, according to Abera. Its construction is expected to start during the next fiscal year.
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