A major by-pass or ring road is being considered for the Solomon Islands capital Honiara.
There is only one main coastal highway in the capital and over the past decade it has become increasingly congested after a huge increase in used car imports.
Map of the greater Honiara region. Photo: Supplied
The Ministry of Infrastructure is already rolling out a major upgrade to make the entirety of this coastal highway four lanes and putting in large roundabouts for problem intersections.
However the ministry's under-secretary Jimmy Nuake said a second highway through the hills behind the city is the only long term solution to the Honiara's traffic problems.
The deputy premier of Guadalcanal, where Honiara is situated, Peter Orainisaka, welcomed the proposal, but warned a lot of issues needed to be addressed to ensure the road benefitted both the people of his province and the country.
Jimmy Nuake acknowledged that the government needed the support of customary landowners and provincial governments to be able to carry out such a large infrastructure development.
But he also stressed that it was important to have this infrastructure to enable the economy to grow.
The proposed highway, which is still a concept at this stage, would run inland from Alligator creek on the eastern end of the Honiara International Airport towards April Ridge in the hills behind Honiara and cut back down to Poha Bridge past the western end of the City.
A second inner Honiara link is also being proposed to run from the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Office at Rove through to Mud Alley in front of the King Solomon Hotel and up into lower Vavaya Ridge past the Rock Haven Motel and connecting to the old Chinatown Bridge.
