The Juba/Lumley intersection had become a serious safety hazard and a major economic setback, with travel delays amounting to hundreds of billions of Leones.
On OPII’s advice, grant funding from the Chinese Government for the Lumley Market and the purchase of garbage trucks, was re-allocated for the construction, regeneration and decongestion of the Lumley/Regent Road and Juba interchange.
OPII was able to convince the Sierra Leone and Chinese Governments that the construction of a second Juba Bridge was more desirable than the proposed market and recommended that the market be constructed at a later stage.
OPII undertook and coordinated the entire construction of the second Juba Bridge. This included handling community relations, overseeing construction, supervision and monitoring of the project.
Work on the bridge began in November 2018. It was completed for the cost of $2.4 million instead of $4.4 million and opened to traffic five months later on the 25th April 2019 – instead of 18 months as originally scheduled.
This bridge has substantially reduced traffic time, improved safety and restored order to this critical transport and trade interchange.
Further regeneration of this area is underway. OPII will supervise the construction of a three-storey shopping mall and parking area in the vicinity, based on designs and drawings produced by OPII, as well as the replacement of the existing market.
OPII’s governance team handled all the negotiations with affected property owners in the area and major stakeholders, which included supporting the Ministry of Lands and Housing to identify land for their relocation.
In addition, OPII has worked with the contractor to develop designs for a vehicular fly-over in the area, starting from the Peninsula Road (in Goderich) and exiting at Wilkinson Road and Spur Road respectively. In OPII’s professional opinion, the proposed fly-over will permanently resolve the traffic congestion at this interchange.
