The newly constructed Ubungo interchange has been launched and renamed ‘Kijazi Interchange’. President John Magufuli has commissioned the interchange and named it after the former Chief Secretary John Kijazi who died earlier this month at the Benjamini Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma.
Kijazi Interchange
The interchange which has three levels was constructed in Ubungo District at the intersections of the Morogoro, Sam Nujoma and the Nelson Mandela roads. The lower section of the interchange is 5Km long whereas the middle section on Morogoro road is 260m long standing at 8.9m high. The top level on the Nelson Mandela and Sam Nunjoma Roads is 700m long standing at 16.3m high. All the three levels of the roads have six lanes.
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The interchange is expected to reduce traffic congestion on the three roads it connects to. This will in turn reduce the time and transport cost of materials and products to the Dar es Salaam Harbor, and in industrial areas and significantly contribute to activation of the wayside commercial activities. Motorists plying the route described the Ubungo junction before the construction of the interchange as a thorn in the flesh to both motorists and passengers.
The heavy traffic jam experienced at the Ubungo junction was a headache for motorists and passengers, drivers used to be stuck in the traffic jam for quite a long time before they crossed through the area and passengers arriving from upcountry felt tired as they had to wait for hours to pass through the Ubungo junction but the construction of the interchange has improved the situation.
The project which was implemented by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) was launched in March 2017 by President Magufuli and the then World Bank (WB) President Jim Yong Kim.
