Investigation of the impact of ancillary roadworks on road safety in Uganda : a case of Kampala – Jinja road

Abstract

The 1949 Geneva Convention on road traffic put in place a unified approach to promote road safety and development of international road traffic. This coupled with the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations Agenda 2030, African Union Agenda 2063, have had a great impact on ensuring safety on the world’s roads. However, road safety for Low Developed Countries like Uganda is still a challenge, despite the adoption of the country’s Vision 2040 and the launching of the National Road Safety Action Plan (2021-2026). A study to investigate the impact of ancillary roadworks on road safety in Uganda, a case of Kampala – Jinja road was conducted, with an aim of establishing a relationship between Road Signs, Road Marking, Guard Rails, Humped and Rumble Strips, Road Lights, Walkways and Service lanes with Road Safety. This study therefore used correlation research design supported by cross sectional survey design with qualitative and quantitative approaches for interviews and questionnaires respectively. Primary data were collected from 30 field traffic officers, 19 drivers, 03 Officers in Charge (OC) traffic police stations, 36 road engineers, 01 Inspectorate of Vehicles (IOV), 01 Regional Traffic Officer (RTO) and 12 market leaders, all within the study area, whereas secondary data were extracted from accident data from Uganda Police. Questionnaire data were analysed with SPSS version 24.0. The interview data was analysed using content analysis. Results indicated that 61% of installed informatory signs, 53% of the installed regulatory signs and 40% of installed warning signs still existed on the road and others were missing which exposes road users to risk of accidents. Guardrails were still existing but some had rusted and others covered with grown grass, making them not visible to road users. Majority of road accidents were serious, accounting for 159 (47.8%) cases, followed by 130 fatalities (39.2%) and 43 (13.0%) minor accidents for the period from 2017 to 2022. A relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable, (βeta) of the study was made. Results of correlation analysis indicated that all ancillary road works were significant except road signs, yet regression results indicated that road marking (βeta = 0.207, p-value = 0.029), guardrails (βeta = 0.186, p-value = 0.045) and humps and rumbles strips (βeta = 0.260, p-value = 0.028) have a positive significant effect on the road safety unlike road lights, road signs, walkways and service lanes which were insignificant. Field inspections together with traffic police officers within the study area, identified 14 blackspots with high annual frequency of accident occurrence in the section between Lugazi and Kitigoma village. It is concluded that road marking, guardrails and humps and rumbles strips significantly affect road safety. The study recommended that construction of humps and rumble strips of moderate size, visible road marking with higher retro reflectivity and strong guardrails, can help in ensuring road safety with support of enforcementof traffic laws of Uganda.