Roadworks begin at Erima

 By MALUM NALU

WORK has finally started on the much-talked about Erima roundabout to 9-Mile sections of the Hubert Murray highway.

Contractor Dekenai Construction began work on a four-lane road at the weekend, one of most congested thoroughfares in Port Moresby.

The area is notorious for never-ending queues of vehicles, especially at peak hours.

Dekenai workmen will work 24-7 until the Erima section is completed before proceeding on to  8-Mile and 9-Mile. Supervisor Mark Wasi told The National yesterday that the National Capital District Commission had awarded work to Dekenai.

NCDC acting city manager Leslie Alu advised that an extra lane would be constructed on the left side to allow traffic to flow from the roundabout to the Erima service station on the Hubert Murray highway.

Alu said half of the roundabout would be closed and the Kookaburra street entry-exit at the roundabout would be closed.

“The road at Erima causes problems every day,” Wasi said.

“We have problems because of traffic jams. The NCDC has given us a contract to open up the road, two lanes up, two lanes down, all the way to 9-Mile. We started work at the weekend.”

The perennially-congested road at Kookuburra street which leads on to Jackson Airport at 7-Mile has been closed to traffic.

“We put up a road block here (Kookaburra St) to slow down the flow of traffic. We will work night and day. There is not so much traffic at night which makes it easier for us to work,” Wasi said.

“Within three weeks, we expect to complete this section at Erima and continue on to 9-Mile.”

 NCD Governor Powes Parkop had said that bottlenecks along the 8-Mile and 9-Mile areas, where a  building boom was taking place, would soon be a thing of the past, with K100 million worth of road works to start this year.

A flyover would be built from Kookaburra street at Erima to Jackson Airport, and the back road from Erima to Waigani and on to Gerehu would soon be rady for traffic.

“The work will start soon, especially widening the lane going up to 8-Mile with a clear two-lane road, and shutting down the traffic coming from the airport going into Kookaburra street,” Parkop said.

“Once we do that, it will ease the traffic there, but the long-term solution is to have a flyover, and a proposal for an underpass – something that our engineers are working on.”

Parkop said Port Moresby required about K900 million worth of infrastructure development and overseas funding would be sought for this.