A proposal for the Urban Road Classification and Road Naming for Hargeisa Project was approved by the Municipality of Hargeisa in February 2011. The Municipality of Hargeisa and UN-HABITAT jointly initiated the project in order to create a better functioning urban environment for the residents and businesses of Hargeisa. The objectives were as follows:
- To provide a clear hierarchy for the urban roads of Hargeisa, for better transportation routes and for management and development of the urban area
The project will produce maps on the road classification system as well as names; in the first phase, it will also install name signs for the higher ranking roads of Hargeisa.
The project set up a technical group that comprises staff from the municipal offices, the Land and Urban Management Institute of Somaliland, and UN-HABITAT. After the categories and definitions of urban roads were determined and the initial selection of the trunk, primary, and secondary roads were completed, the progress was reported in a Municipal Council meeting in May. The mayor and the councillors were happy and agreed with the development of the project. The road classification field survey commenced on 30 May and lasted for a week. Three trunk roads, 19 primary roads, and 50 secondary roads were initially selected.
The field survey team collected the following data:
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Road class (trunk, primary, secondary)
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The current name of the road, if available
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Sub district where the road is located
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Road width (metres)
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The total length of the road (metres)
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Pavement type (asphalt, concrete, gravel, unpaved)
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Pavement quality (good, fair, poor); length of any paved part of the road indicated on a map
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Major landmarks along the road
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Street lights (provided for the full length, provided for parts of the road, not provided at all)
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Occupation of the road, e.g. by street vendors (informal, formal)
The collected data was incorporated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) database and an urban road classification map produced. The map will be submitted to the local council to initiate the naming of streets. The municipality and the development partners of UN-HABITAT are looking forward to the final products of this project. A clear road hierarchy is the basis for urban and transport planning, as well as investment planning, which in turn allow adequate road and infrastructure management and support better urban mobility and efficient land use. The road-naming activity started in September 2011. |
