Redressing the Kukum Highway

Very soon,  KITANO–WKK JV of Japan will begin work to upgrade the Kukum Highway. Photo: Harold Maesulia.

                                                                                                                                                            
By Harold Maesulia. Follow me on twitter.

Finally, the long wait is over.

Very soon,  KITANO–WKK JV of Japan will begin work to upgrade the Kukum Highway. A ground breaking ceremony that officially marked the start of the project was held in Honiara this morning.

In the weeks leading up to this morning's ceremony, busy workers could be seen erecting a fence that was later dressed in KITANO-WKK JV slogans at the Ministry of Infrastructure  Development (MID) yard besides the Honiara City Council Roundabout.

Although the area (MID Yard) is expected to be cleared later to make way for the expanded HCC Roundabout, unconfirmed reports state that the site will at this stage be temporarily used to house machineries for the million dollar project.

The Japanese Government has signed over $213 million for the much needed upgrade and it is anticipated that its completion will bring great relief to both business owners and dwellers of Honiara who continue to be affected by the ongoing issue of congested traffic in the city.

A document seen by this blog blames the congested Honiara traffic on the bottlenecks that have been created by the 4-lane highway as it narrows into the 2-lane New Mataniko bridge at China Town.

Besides that, the presence of the many traffic  intersections at the Honiara City Council Roundabout seems to contribute a lot to the hustle of driving through the area.

The document also states that the lack of adequate crossing facilities in front of the Central Market is another factor that contributes to the traffic nightmare in Honiara.

As the project begins to kick off, A Fierce Reality is delighted to enlighten its faithful readers about some exciting things that this latest development will  bring to the face of Honiara city.

The Design Policy of the Project

Because of its deteriorating condition, the road section between the Honiara City Council Roundabout and the Ministry of Fisheries will be totally repaved.

The report further adds that drainage ditches are to be installed at both sides of the highway and road sections which often suffer from inundation will be improved to prevent the flooding of the highway during wet conditions.

In particular, the junctions at Vura and the Central Hospital areas are to be improved to also ease traffic flow.

With the issue of bus stops, the upgrade is expected to improve bus bays so that they are stationed outside of the carriageway, reducing the possibility of disruption to traffic flow.

The project is also expected to widen the new Mataniko bridge to be able to accommodate 4-lanes while the old Mataniko Bailey bridge will be replaced with a permanent 2-lane bridge.

Traffic signalization or grade separation is an effective method which is expected to solve the traffic congestion at the Honiara City Council area, however that idea was abandoned due to cost and maintenance reasons.

An artist's impression of the newly designed HCC
Roundabout. Photo: MID.

So in order to improve the traffic capacity of the Honiara City roundabout, authorities suggest that the ring road diameter is going to be enlarged and the number of lanes will be further increased.

Equally important, the number of  connecting roads to the HCC Roundabout will be reduced to do away with unwanted congestion.

Because of that, the storage yards belonging to the MID besides the current HCC Roundabout will be used to increase the capacity of the roundabout. 

According to the same report, the Central Market area will also see a lot of improvements.

Improvements are expected to come in the form of better crossing facilities and wider bus bays.

A median fence will be installed at the Central Market area to prevent free crossing and a crosswalk which will be controlled by traffic personnel will also be made to control the movement of pedestrians at the busy area.

There is also plan to give the current underground pass, in front of the newly built Central Plaza, a facelift for easy access to both sides of the road.

The Kukum Highway was last upgraded
in 1993. Photo: Kramer.

Bigger bus bays too will help the flow of traffic in that busy part of the city, the document further adds.

Once completed, the project is going to be a major facelift for Honiara in a very long time.

Public Views

A lot of Honiara residents spoken to by this blog have very nice things to say about the project.

One commenter says that Japan is a true friend of Solomon Islands saying that this is a great gift for Solomon Islands as we are preparing to host the 2023 Pacific Games.

Another person comments that she can't wait for the completion of the project as that will make travelling to and from work easy for her.

The last time that the 3 Kilometer Kukum Highway had undergone a total make over was in 1993. 

At that time, A Fierce Reality understands that Kramer, in association with Kumagai Gumi, was commissioned by the Solomon Islands Government in 1992 to undertake the Engineering Survey, Designing and Documentation stage 1 of the Kukum Highway Road project.