T2 Road (Zambia)

T2 trunk
Route of the T2 through Zambia
Route information
Length	1,155 km (718 mi)
Major junctions
North end	Tunduma border with Tanzania
Major intersections	M14 in Nakonde M1 in Mpika T3 near Kapiri Mposhi M20 near Chibombo T4/M9 in Lusaka T1 near Kafue M15 near Chirundu
South end	A1 at the Chirundu border with Zimbabwe
Location
Major cities	Mpika, Kabwe, Lusaka, Kafue
Highway system
Transport in Zambia

The T2 is a trunk road in Zambia. The road runs from the Tunduma border with Tanzania via Mpika, Kabwe and Lusaka to the Chirundu border with Zimbabwe.^[1] The road is the longest route of the country, as it is approximately 1,155 kilometres (718 mi).^[2] The entire route is a toll road.^[3]

For its entire route, the T2 is known as Zambia's Great North Road and is part of the Cape to Cairo Road. Also, the section from Tanzania to Lusaka is known as the Tanzam Highway and the section from the T3 road junction in Kapiri Mposhi to the T1 road junction just after Kafue is part of the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Road.

Route[]

The entire route forms Zambia's Great North Road and is part of the famed Cape to Cairo Road.

Muchinga Province[]

The T2 road begins from Zambia's Border Post with Tanzania near Tunduma as the Tanzam Highway. It meets the northern terminus of the M14 road (which connects to the Mafinga Hills) before passing south-west through the town centre of Nakonde.

From Nakonde, the T2 goes southwards for 86 km (53 mi) to the town of Isoka. After Isoka, the road goes south-west for 263 km (163 mi), bypassing Chinsali (Muchinga Province's Capital), through Shiwang'andu District, to the town of Mpika, where it is joined by the M1 road from Kasama and Mbala. The Name Great North Road used to apply to the M1 road up to the Mbala Border with Tanzania, but the name has since been given to the T2 road to Nakonde, due to its direct route to important Towns in Tanzania.

As part of the National Road Fund Agency's plans, there will soon be 3 tollgates between Nakonde and Mpika (one between Nakonde and Isoka; one between Isoka and Chinsali; one between Chinsali and Mpika).^[3]

Central Province[]

From Mpika, the T2 road makes a 245 km (152 mi) Journey south-south-west, through the Chilonga Toll Plaza,^[3] through Lavushimanda District, crossing into Central Province and passing through Chitambo District, to Serenje. 40 km (25 mi) before Serenje, at the town of Chitambo, the T2 meets a direct road to Luapula Province, named the Serenje-Samfya Road (opened in 1983; designated as the D235 on the Zambian road network), which is used by motorists to access Luapula Province quickly.

From Serenje, the T2 makes a 200 km (120 mi) journey west-south-west, through the farming town of Mkushi, through the George Kunda SC Toll Plaza,^[3] to Kapiri Mposhi. From the Tanzania Border Post at Nakonde, the T2 is accompanied to Kapiri Mposhi by a railway named the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA Railway).

At Kapiri Mposhi, the T2 road meets the T3 road from Ndola and Kitwe in the Copperbelt Province and the Kasumbalesa border with DR Congo. They meet at a T-junction. As the T3 Route ends at this junction, the T2 Route becomes the road southwards towards Kapiri Mposhi Central.

From Kapiri Mposhi, the road goes for 60 km (37 mi) south-south-west, through the Manyumbi Toll Plaza,^[3] to the city of Kabwe, which is Central Province's Capital and home to the Mulungushi Rock of Authority. From Kabwe, the road goes 55 km (34 mi) south-west to the town of Chibombo.

After Chibombo, at the junction with the M20 road to Mumbwa (this junction is famously known as Landless Corner), the T2 road turns south-east and quickly enters Chisamba District (bypassing the farming town of Chisamba to the west; where the D176 provides access to the Chisamba Town Centre), before turning directly south towards Lusaka and passing through the Katuba Toll Plaza,^[3] where it re-enters Chibombo District (passing through the Katuba Constituency).

Lusaka Province[]

Great North Road across Zanimouone in northern Lusaka

Next, the T2 leaves Chibombo District, Central Province and enters Lusaka, Zambia's Capital City, in the Province of the same name. It enters just before the National Heroes Stadium. At the roundabout at the northern end of the City Centre, the T2 Route meets the T4 Route (Great East Road) from Chongwe and Chipata (and the republics of Malawi & Mozambique) and the M9 Road from Mumbwa and Mongu. This junction of the Great Roads of Zambia marks the end of the T2 being known as the Tanzam Highway.

Right after this roundabout, the T2 becomes Cairo Road, an avenue with many trees and businesses on the road and where heavy vehicles are not permitted to pass. (Trucks are advised to use Lumumba Road to bypass the City Centre to the west and come back on the T2 south of the City Centre)

At the southern end of the City Centre, the T2 has a roundabout again, where it meets Lusaka's Independence Avenue and becomes Kafue Road. At the next junction, the southern end of Lumumba Road is met. This is where heavy vehicles going northwards are advised to join Lumumba Road to skip the town centre and bypass it to the west. (This is also where heavy vehicles going southwards rejoin the main road)

Going south of Lusaka, the road is named Kafue Road. It goes for 45 km (28 mi), through the town of Chilanga and the Shimabala Toll Plaza,^[3] to the industrial town of Kafue. Just after crossing the Kafue River approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) after the Kafue Town Centre, the T2 Route temporarily enters Chikankata District in Southern Province, where it meets the north-eastern terminus of the Lusaka–Livingstone road (T1 Route) from Mazabuka, Choma, Livingstone and the Victoria Falls (with links to Botswana, Namibia and north-western Zimbabwe).

From the Livingstone Road (T1) junction, the T2 goes east-south-east, following the Kafue River, to re-enter Lusaka Province and continue through a mountainous area to the town of Chirundu on the border with Zimbabwe (Zambezi River), where there is a bridge (Chirundu Bridge; built in 1939) to connect with the A1 Road (R3 Road) on the Zimbabwean side going to Harare. The village on the other side of the border is also named Chirundu.

As part of the National Road Fund Agency's plans, there will soon be a tollgate on the stretch between Kafue and Chirundu.^[3]

Seventeen km (11 mi) before Chirundu, the T2 meets the M15 road, which is the road that provides access to the tourist town of Siavonga on the Zambezi River near Kariba Dam and a border connecting to the town of Kariba on the Zimbabwean side.

As the Cape to Cairo Road, The T2 becomes the Chirundu-Beitbridge Regional Road Corridor in Zimbabwe, which connects to South Africa.

Road Network[]

The T2 between the Tanzania border and the T1 road junction south of Kafue is part of the Trans-African Highway 4 (Cairo-Cape Town Highway), which connects Cairo in Egypt with Cape Town in South Africa. (the Cairo-Cape Town Highway continues from Kafue south-westwards as the T1 road)

The T2 between Kapiri Mposhi and the Zimbabwe border is part of the Trans-African Highway 9 (Beira-Lobito Highway), which connects Beira in Mozambique with Lobito in Angola. (The Beira-Lobito Highway continues from Kapiri Mposhi northwards as the T3 road)^{[4][circular reference]}

The T2 from its junction with the T3 road in Kapiri Mposhi to its junction with the T1 road south of Kafue is part of the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Road.

Great North Road[]

In the past, the M1 road from Mpika northwards to Mbala and Mpulungu was known as Zambia's Great North Road. Then, the name Great North Road was given to the T2 road from Mpika north-east to the Tanzania Border just after Nakonde, probably due to the fact that it is part of the Cape to Cairo Road. So, the M1 Road is now known as the Old Great North Road.

Before 1939, the T1 road from its junction with the T2 road near Kafue south-west to Livingstone and the Victoria Falls was known as the Great North Road. Then, in 1939, when the Chirundu Bridge over the Zambezi River was opened to connect the T2 road with the A1 Road in Zimbabwe to Harare, the T2 from its junction with the T1 eastwards to Chirundu became known as the Great North Road, probably because the route to Harare was officially declared part of the Cape to Cairo Road rather than the route to Livingstone.

The T2 between Kafue and Mpika was part of the original Great North Road of Zambia and together with the T2 from Mpika to Nakonde and the T2 from Kafue to Chirundu, the T2 road now forms the entire section of Zambia's Great North Road.

M15 Road (Zambia)[]

The M15 road is the 65 km (40 mi) road connecting the tourist town of Siavonga in Southern Province with Chirundu in Lusaka Province.^[1] Together with the T2 road, it is the main route connecting Siavonga with the rest of the country.

It begins 18 km (11 mi) west of Chirundu in Lusaka Province at a junction with the T2 road and goes southwards for 65 km (40 mi) to Siavonga in Southern Province. It bypasses Siavonga town centre to the east and becomes the eastern wall of the Kariba Dam, where it crosses the Zambezi River borderline into the republic of Zimbabwe and becomes the P12 road to pass through the town of Kariba on the Zimbabwean side.

Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway[]

On 08 September 2017, President Edgar Lungu commissioned the construction of the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway. This proposed route construction would transform the T2 Road (Great North Road) from Lusaka to Kapiri Mposhi, together with the T3 Road from Kapiri Mposhi to Ndola (a total distance of 320 kilometres), into a dual carriageway to ease the movement of vehicles such as trucks, buses and motor vehicles and reduce on accidents.^[5][6] As part of the same project, they also plan to do works on the 33-kilometre M6 Road from Masangano Market in Masaiti District to Fisenge in Luanshya District (as a shortcut to Kitwe; will be used by motorists wishing to avoid Ndola on the trip to Kitwe).^[5]

This new dual carriagway would require bypasses around the towns of Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi together with some grade-separated interchanges where necessary.^[7] Together with the already-existing Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway and Kitwe-Chingola Dual Carriageway in the Copperbelt Province, this proposed road would provide a faster and safer journey from Lusaka to DR Congo. At the moment, the entire T3 from Ndola to Kapiri Mposhi, together with the T2 from Kapiri Mposhi to Lusaka, is a single carriageway with one lane in each direction.

The total cost of this 320 km road, after several increments, was finalized at $1.2 billion and construction began from Lusaka going northwards.^[8][9] Certain elements of society criticized the high cost of the road, as it would cost just over $3.7 million per kilometre.^[10]

However, only the section of the T2 (Great North Road) within the capital city (Lusaka District), up to the Six Miles Roundabout, has been completed as of 2020, with the Ministry of Finance ordering for the Road Development Agency to halt the project, citing financial constraints.^[11]

On 05 August 2021 (a week before Elections in Zambia), while commissioning the opening of the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola, incumbent President Edgar Lungu promised to resume the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway project immediately if he would win the 12 August elections of 2021.^[12]

In August 2021 (just after Zambia's Presidential Election), the newly-appointed Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Charles Milupi, stated that the road would cost less than $1.2 billion under President Hakainde Hichilema's government. Road construction would only resume once the price has been renegotiated to a lower amount; otherwise, the project has not been cancelled.^[13]

References[]