Traffic: at the heart of the road hell between Colobane and the HLM
The Colobane – HLM axis has transformed into a real obstacle course. Between potholes and pools of mud, traffic there has become an ordeal. Drivers, motorcyclists and traders shout their exasperation at this completely degraded road.
It is a little after 11 a.m. between the Colobane roundabout and the HLM, and in the crushing heat, the Dakar traffic never stops. However, crossing this street today is a real obstacle course: in the middle of the road, the broken bitumen has given way to a large pool of muddy water which tries in vain to hide deep potholes.
Along the roads, residents have piled up sandbags to limit infiltration and provide a makeshift passage for pedestrians. In this disorder, each journey requires great caution: motorcyclists weave on the strips of dry earth, like a driver in a red t-shirt and yellow mules who advances at a walking pace, the handlebars loaded with packages.
Despite the poor condition of the road, the traffic remains intense and shows all the typical scenery of the capital: the symbolic yellow and blue “Rapid Cars” cut through the puddles with confidence, while the taxis slow down as much as possible so as not to damage their underbody or stall, closely followed by cars stuck in huge traffic jams.
On the crowded sidewalks, commerce does not stop and sellers simply take care to protect their goods from splashes.
Accustomed to this road ordeal, Modou Dia, “fast bus” driver, talks with some colleagues and apprentices. He took the opportunity to express all his frustration: “We are experiencing serious problems because of the state of the road. All our vehicles break down. It’s always like this on this axis connecting the Colobane roundabout to the HLM, and it even goes well beyond: from the Massalikul Jinann mosque to Castor, the road is completely degraded. »
A bag of fresh water in hand, he takes a sip under the impatient gaze of his passengers, already seated in the fast coach parked near Elton station. He continues his criticisms about the state of the track: “We cannot spend our time making diversions. When it rains it’s even worse, all our engines end up being damaged. »
At the HLM market, the noise of bargaining mixes with the incessant concert of horns. In this lively setting, Mamadou Cissé, a motorcycle driver from Jakarta dressed in the jersey of a European club, sat comfortably on his mount to observe the traffic. He protests: “The State should really help us by rebuilding this road. It is impractical, but we cannot stay without working. When it rains, God only knows how difficult it is to cross. »
Complaints are multiplying from all sides, particularly among those who take this route daily. This is the case of Serigne Afia Mbacké, trader at the HLM market, CEO of Afia HLM and motorist. Dressed in an African costume and sitting at the wheel of his black Nissan car, he is visibly in a hurry to get going. He nevertheless takes a few minutes to detail the consequences of this degradation: “Potholes constantly cause accidents. For example, a motorcyclist may fall straight into a hole, or a car may swerve to avoid one and hit a motorcycle or other vehicle. We systematically come away with damage. »
This Colobane – HLM axis perfectly illustrates the daily life of Dakar residents: a dynamic population that constantly adapts to the challenges of the city.
Update from the mayor of HLM, Moustapha Diop
On the side of the competent authorities, the reality is quite different. The roads are certainly degraded and impassable, but the municipality is sparing no effort in trying to rehabilitate the roads. Moustapha Diop, mayor of HLM, provides explanations.
He first begins by recognizing the critical state of certain streets: “In HLM, we recognize that there are a lot of roads that are in poor condition. »
The mayor then admits the glaring insufficiency of the municipal budget, which makes road repair impossible on its own scale: “We must understand the reality of our budgets: our municipalities are very small and we have zero resources to take over or redo a road. We are not going to beat around the bush, our budgets are very, very insufficient. »
Aware of his prerogatives, he recalls that the town hall has already contacted the City of Dakar: “At the departmental level, it is the City of Dakar which is responsible for the roads. On several occasions, we alerted them, followed up with them and sent them the list of our priorities. However, we have been waiting for four years for the City of Dakar to finally start rehabilitating a road to HLM, which has not yet been done. »
Beyond the powers of the City of Dakar, certain so-called “classified” roads fall under the responsibility of the State through Ageroute: “Today, the blockage concerns the remaining major axes, starting with the main road to the HLM market. It is a classified road, which means that it belongs to the State and it is up to them to take it over completely. In addition, it is a structuring road, an absolute emergency axis where nearly 50,000 people pass through and gravitate every day to go to the market or reach Dakar. People pass through it, and the shocks of daily life make this rehabilitation urgent,” explains the mayor.
Despite these difficulties, Moustapha Diop wants to qualify the situation: “However, we must be fair: the HLM commune is perhaps one of the best off. Apart from two, three or four axes at most, the vast majority of our roads have been completely taken over and rebuilt by ONAS thanks to the renewal program. »
In conclusion, he did not fail to launch an urgent appeal to the competent authorities: “Faced with this situation, we are calling on the State and the City of Dakar so that this structuring road can finally be restored. Our citizens are just waiting for that. »
The hot potato passed on to the city of Dakar
While the state of road infrastructure is causing debate in several districts of the capital, particularly in HLM, the City of Dakar is providing clarifications on its road management. Faced with criticism citing a lack of intervention on the municipal network, Mr. Ansoumane Bayo, future new director of technical services for the City of Dakar, provides clarifications: “The city of Dakar intervened at the level of the HLM, more precisely a little above the market. On this part, we carried out paving work. And if you also look towards the Castors side towards the Castors roundabout on the far right, there too there are interventions by the city of Dakar. At the Saint-Maurice Danger church which is on the main road, there too we recently came with the inscription of the town hall budget to do the development of this part of this church. »
To understand the distribution of responsibilities in Dakar, Mr. Ansoumane Bayo recalls that there is a clear distinction between two types of roads: “we intervene throughout the city of Dakar in terms of paving, in terms of rehabilitation of the roadway but everything that is within the municipal perimeter, that is to say everything that is urban roads, everything that is municipal roads.
So. So, it is planned that a new market will soon start with new companies and in the programming that we are going to do, there will really be the share of the HLM municipality which will of course be taken into account in this program like all the other municipalities. There are also classified roads which fall within the domain of the state, it is up to Ageroute to take care of them. »
Regarding future prospects, the City of Dakar announces the end of a three-year contractual cycle and the imminent launch of a brand new road development and rehabilitation program. This market, for which the winning companies have already been designated, will cover all 19 municipalities in the Dakar department, including the island of Gorée and the HLM municipality: “the market has been launched, the winning companies are known and therefore what remains to be done is to really start the geologies, it is to start the work but hey, also with the work of the YOG which is there too, I think that it will perhaps be just after the YOG that this work will begin, these markets will begin. », Announces Ansoumane Bayo.
Speaking under the supervision of Mr Birame Diop, current director of urban development for the city of Dakar who claims to be retiring soon, Mr Bayo explains the axis between the Colobane roundabout and the HLM market: “it is Avenue Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba. This is a classified road. It is a classified road so it is Ageroute which generally intervenes there. But sometimes situations can arise where the city can intervene to relieve the populations. As happened recently at Niarry Tally at the two lanes of Niarry Tally which start at the Cices Bourguiba roundabout to go to the Liberté 5 terminal which is currently in progress. »
Fatou NGOM
