PNGCars

The Works and Transport Minister Don Polye has announced that the badly rundown Highlands Highway will be expanded to a four lane freeway stretching from Lae all the way to Southern Highlands and Enga Province, opening up the provinces and increasing the flow of goods along this all important road.

When exactly that will happen is anyone’s guess but he assured everyone at the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council forum in Goroka recently that the government has given this project first priority.

The road will be extended in phases beginning in Lae, Morobe Province where the first phases of engineering studies have commenced.

In other areas of the highway rehabilitation work continues. The Government has already spent up to K1 billion in rehabilitation on the highway in the past five years and will spend more over the next ten.

In a presentation on the Highlands Highway rehabilitation program by National Road Authority Planning and Programming Unit Manager John Kelly Kaio and reported in the media, the following is the rehabilitation plan for the road network;

#Morobe section from Lae city to Yung Creek (Morobe and EHP border) 163km maintained by Transport Sector Support Programme (TSSP);

#Eastern Highlands from Yung Creek to Magiro (EHP and Chimbu border) – 177km maintained by TSSP, Simbu government, national government funding through departments of Works,  National Planning and Treasury and Finance under the Highlands Highway rehabilitation programme (HHRP);

# Western Highlands from Miunde (Chimbu and WHP border) to Togoba junction – 83km maintained by NRA, contracted to Works Department;

#Togoba junction to Nebilyer Bridge – 19km to be maintained NRA through Works Department;
 

#Nebilyer Bridge to WHP and SHP border – national government contract under HHRP suspended;

#Southern Highlands sections, Kaugel to Kisenapoi – HHRP contract suspended;

#Kisenapoi to Angula Bridge ongoing HHRP contract;

#Angula Bridge to Mendi – no financier;

# Mendi (SHP border) Margarima (Enga border) – financed under ADB to be upgraded under ADB-multi-financing facility (MFF);

#Enga’s Magarima (Enga border) to Kandep – maintained under ADB;

# National government regravelling project to be upgraded under ADB MFF;

# Kandep to Laiagam – regravelling and upgrading under ADB MFF;

# Laiagam to Wabag – 40km maintained under ADB; and

# Wabag to Wapenamanda – reconstruction to be financed by AusAID and Wapenamanda to Togoba, 28km tendered by AusAID under TSSP

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