Phase 1 of airport road nears completion

ARNOLD KEYATHE Roads Authority (RA) says phase 1 of the extension of the highway to the Hosea Kutako International Airport will be completed in August.

This includes the road along Kleine Kuppe, Auasblick and Avis Hills, which eventually connects with the Hosea Kutako International Airport road.

The construction forms part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trunk Road Network, which supports trade within the region.

Phase 1 commenced in January 2016.

Conrad Lutombi, the RA’s chief executive officer, at a press briefing in Windhoek recently said although the project was faced with a few hurdles, including some due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he is satisfied with its progress so far.

He said the road would involve nine dual-carriage freeways, 15 km of ramp roads, four interchanges and 13 new bridges, of which two would be river bridges.

Lutombi said phases 2a and 2b have already kicked off this month and would be completed by September 2023.

“This phase (2) will cover the section of road from the Sam Nujoma Avenue interchange (in Avis) to the Dordabis interchange. It will comprise 19,5 km of a dual-carriage freeway,” he said.

This stretch of road would include the construction of three interchanges and seven new bridges, of which one is a river bridge.

Phase 2a will be co-funded by the government and the African Development Bank to the tune of approximately N$949 million, and is already 13% complete.

Phase 2b will cover the remainder of the road from the Dordabis interchange to the Hosea Kutako International Airport, and is yet to start.

The ball has been set rolling, with the process of appionting a contractor underway.

This phase will be funded through a grant from China and will comprise 23,5 km of a dual-carriage freeway.

Lutombi said the ongoing expansion project aims to decongest the city’s roads and divert long-haul heavy traffic from the city centre to its outskirts.

“It is both a financial and structural mitigation effort as Windhoek’s streets were not designed for heavy traffic, and this will minimise the costly exercise of maintaining and repairing damaged roads annually within the city,” he said, adding that this would also reduce noise pollution and ease traffic flow from the airport to the city centre, and vice versa.

“This is to improve road safety, and reduce road accidents and carnage, especially on the busy Hosea Kutako International Airport road,” he said.

Lutombi said the new freeway will improve organisation, access, mobility and fluidity of transport operations into and out of the city by allowing quicker and faster linking with the north-to-south and east-to-west highway and freeway corridors linking other towns to the city.

Economically, it will be key in improving business operations and reducing road fatalities on the busy highways that open Windhoek up to the rest of the country and the SADC region.

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