Africa-Press – Uganda. According to the Daily Monitor reports this week, Kampala City’s stretch of non-motorised transport corridor, which was unveiled last year, has been invaded by street vendors, taxi operators and boda boda riders, among others.
The 2-kilometre corridor, which stretches from Entebbe Road via Luwum Street down to Namirembe Road and Berkeley Junction was intended for pedestrians and bicycle riders. This is just one of the issues that need to be addressed when it comes to traffic matters downtown.
There is scant information on the timeline for completing works on the Old Taxi Park in the city centre and this affects where commuter taxis park, how they enter and exit the city and where they load passengers.
Without clearing some of these irregularities and communicating clearly regarding the plan for major works in the city, there can be no order and smooth flow of traffic in Kampala. Therefore, the city authorities cannot expect road users to magically fall in line without offering solutions or viable alternatives.
There are many pending questions raised over the invasion and these require urgent resolutions. Residents of Kampala continue to wait for effective regulation of boda boda and taxi transport in the city.
They do so against the backdrop of the increasing numbers of cyclists in and around the city hence the inevitable invasion of areas where the riders are not meant to operate from. In fact, this problem is already creeping to many other roads outside of the designated non-motorised corridor.
While Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) says they have started relocating street vendors to markets, the move should be part of the beginning of crafting a lasting solution to the long-running issue of street vending.
The population in the city during both day and night continue increase, hence the need for fast, creative and dynamic solutions is all the more urgent.
The sooner the relevant authorities start to regulate the different business activities and road users, the better for residents as well as visitors.
We cannot continue making all these important innovations, including non-motorised roads and hope that they will function as designed , if we do not first provide solutions to all the other long-running challenges in the city.
