Traffic along Masaka road interrupted as culvert at Lwera caves in – Monitor
A sunken spot at Lwera swamp along the Kampala-Masaka Highway. PHOTOS | COURTESY | UNRA
By AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA & Richard Kyanjo
Unra has advised motorists to use the Mpigi-Kanoni-Sembabule-Villa Maria-Nyendo Masaka highway. However, this route is about 175km compared to the usual 128km covered by motorists on the Kampala-Masaka highway.
The Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) has advised motorists using the Kampala-Masaka highway to go slowly while approaching Lwera swamp area after a big sunken hole emerged on one of the lanes of the usually busy highway Saturday evening.
Unra blames the problem on the rising water levels in Lwera exacerbated by the current heavy rains.
“We wish to notify motorists about the damage of a cross culvert at the Lwera section. One side of the road has been affected and is currently sealed off to motorists with the help of police while motorists continue to use the other side of the road. Our maintenance team is already making arrangements to restore this section of the road as soon as possible,” Unra management tweeted on Saturday night.
They advised motorists to use the Mpigi-Kanoni-Sembabule-Villa Maria-Nyendo Masaka highway. However, this route is about 175km compared to the usual 128km covered by motorists on the Kampala-Masaka highway.
The Lwera section, which stretches 18kms is prone to accidents and sometimes the metallic culverts cave in unexpectedly. The last similar incident occurred on November 10 last year.
Mr Moses Sekitto, a commuter taxi driver urged Unra engineers to swiftly fix the damaged section since more motorists are travelling upcountry for the Christmas holiday.
“There is heavy traffic on this road now and it will become a big inconvenience if they delay fixing that problem,” he said.
In March 2019, Unra engineers expressed fears that a section of highway in Lwera swamp was scouring from underneath. This followed the appearance of a similar big sunken hole in the middle of the highway, causing concern that the entire section might cave in.
The hole developed at the left lane towards Lukaya Town from Kampala. Although the sunken spot was assumed to have a culvert which was thought to have been washed away or damaged, engineers who excavated within the hole and sideways, reportedly failed to trace the culverts.
This rampant damage is blamed on increasing human activity including sand mining and farming.
While commissioning the new Lukaya Roadside market in 2020, Works and Transport Minister, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala said the government was in a process of re-designing the section of highway between Lwera and Lukaya Town and actual works were expected to commence in the 2022/2023 financial year.
Kampala-Masaka highway is one of the busiest highways in the country with an average daily traffic count of about 30,000 vehicles. It is the main gateway to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi handling major cargo to and from.
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