The Addis Ababa – Adama (Nazret) Expressway:
In June 2009, the Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA) and the Chinese highway construction company (CCCC) signed a contract to design and build an 80 km eight lane expressway between the city of Addis Ababa and Adama (formerly known as Nazret). Construction was started a year later in April 2010. This modern highway, when fully completed and starts operations, is expected to reduce the travel time between the two cities from the current average more than two hours to approximately 40 minutes. The current road is extremely congested and is prone to frequent traffic accidents, often fatal. It is also the main route for commercial vehicles traveling between Addis Ababa and Djibouti, which is the most vital road network for trade and commerce, including import and export for the country.
The highway is planned to include tolls, which makes it a candidate for application of one of the well known ITS systems worldwide i.e. Electronic Toll Collection Systems (ETC). Currently, it is not know if the highway toll plan includes ETC, but it is inevitable the idea will come forward in the future.
Aside from the possible application of ETC for toll collections on the new highway, there are several potential uses for ITS technologies and systems in this complex network, which involves numerous overpasses, underpasses and interchanges. Most importantly, effective traffic control and management, safety, incident detection, response and clearance as well as traveler information will be key components in the operation of this large highway network. Practically all of these functions require the implementation of appropriate ITS technologies and systems.
In the end, this project makes the building of an effective Transportation Management Center (TMC), in the two cities (Addis Ababa and Adama), with the integration of selected and key ITS systems including traffic CCTV cameras, Variable Message Signs (VMS) and Traffic Signal Control System (TSCS) deployed along the route makes it a necessity, for effective operation of the highway.
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