Project

The rehabilitation and widening of the M1 road section from Kacheche to Chiweta referred to as Section 4 (or LOT 4 of the procurement procedure) of the project. The total length of the section is 66.5 km.

The primary economic function of the road is the long-distance transportation of import goods for Malawi from the port of Dar es Salaam. Fuel is the main product handled but the road also provides for the import of goods to the mining activities along the road corridor, and the export of agricultural products, in particular tobacco. The road is a major route from Lilongwe to the north and carries significant local traffic serving district administrative centers and trading centers along its route. The Ml through Malawi offers the shortest import/export route to Dar es Salaam for Zambia's agriculturally important Eastern Province. Various forms of traffic make use of the project road. This includes heavy and light duty goods vehicles, buses, pickups, minibuses, passenger cars and non-motorised traffic (mainly bicycles and pedestrians). There are large volumes of non-motorised traffic, with many trading centres and towns along the route.