A10 (Ethiopia)

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A 10

A10 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Ethiopia National Highways Authority
Length572 km[1] (355 mi)
Major junctions
FromAwash
East endDegehabur
Location
CountryEthiopia
Highway system

The A10,[2] alternatively known as Awash–Dengego–Degehabur Highway,[a] is an Ethiopian national highway connecting the Afar Region to the city of Degehabur in the Somali Region, in addition to being the main road to the cities of Harar and Jijiga.

History

The A10 passing through the hilly area between Harar and Babile in the Oromia Region

Around 1932, part of the road between Harar and Jijiga was constructed in order to improve after the establishment of several ports in British Somaliland.[b][c]

In 2013, the Ethiopian Roads Authority announced the construction of a new highway to connect the city of Harar with Jijiga.[5] In mid-2023, the World Bank through the International Development Association (IDA) approved projects for the upgrading of several sections of the A10 covering approximately 142 km from Mieso to Dire Dawa with a budget of $730 million with the objective of improving connectivity between Ethiopia and Djibouti.[6]

In June 2024, the Ethiopian Roads Administration (ERA) confirmed the rehabilitation works of the sections of the A10 running between Kulubi, Dengego and Harar with the aim of implementing the projects regarding the "Ethiopia-Djibouti Transport Corridor".[d] In November 2024, maintenance work began on the A10 specifically on the sectors connecting Dire Dawa to Harar, where part of the existing asphalt on the road was resurfaced with a budget of approximately 106,076,851 Ethiopian birr.[e]

Route description

Lake Adele as seen from the A10 at Eastern Hararghe

Oromia Region

The highway starts on the A1 near the city of Awash in the Afar Region and then heads much further east to the town center of Mieso.

The A10 connects the towns of Hirna, Chelenko and Kulubi through a mostly mountainous area.[9] The A10 passes around important religious sites for the Christian community of Oromia such as the Gedam Monastery located on Mount Asebot as well as St. Gabriel's Church located in the town of Kulubi, causing this road to be frequently used for pilgrimage.[f] In this section, the A10 passes through the Dengego-Melka Jebdu National Forest.[g] From there the road goes much further west until it reaches the town of Degengo where it intersects with the road that connects the town of Dire Dawa, then the road goes much further south and crosses the area around Lake Adele and crosses the urban center of Haramaya.

The sections of the A10 from Harar to Jijiga pass through several rock formations such as Olad near the Babile Elephant Sanctuary[h] as well as Daga Ferenji in the rural locality of Kimet.[i]

The road enters the center of the Babile town and then heads much further east crossing the Dakhata Valley, characterized by its rock formations.[13]

Harari Region

The A10 is the main access route to this region, where it runs through the center of the city of Harar and then goes much further southeast connecting the suburb of Abadir and then on to the rural localities of Harewa and K'ile. The A10 then crosses the Erer River[14] and re-enters the Oromia region.

Somali Region

The A10 passes through the center of Fafem town and heads to the Shabelle Tourist Center Recreation Park (Somali: Beerta Nasashada Xarunta Dalxiiska Shabeelay) in Faafan, then the highway subsequently heads to Hadew. The A10 heads much further east and passes through the Marda Pass[15] to reach the Jijiga metropolitan area. From this section the A10 passes between the Jerer Valley[j] and the Jijiga Plains, where it goes much further southeast and crosses the Hare River.[17]

The A10 passes around the urban center of Kebribeyah and connects the rural localities of Ararso, this section goes through the arid zone of the Somali region. Then, A10 passes around the Kombor Ch'af peak[18] and then goes much further south until it reaches the Degehabur metropolitan area.

Major intersections

RegionLocationkmmiDestinationsNotes
AfarAwash00.0A1Colloquially known as the “Awash-Djibouti Road”
OromiaDengego281175A10A[19]Alternatively known in certain parts as the “Dire Dawa-Harar Road”
SomaliJijiga397247C104[20]Colloquially known as the “Jijiga-Hargeisa Road” (Somali: Wadada Jijiga-Hargeisa)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

External links

Notes

  1. ^ Amharic: አዋሽ-ደንገጎ-ደገሃቡር አውራ ጎዳና, romanized: Āwash-Dengego-Degehabur Āwira Godana ; Oromo: Daandii Guddaa Awaash–Dengego–Degehabur ; Somali: Waddada Awash–Dengego–Dhagaxbuur
  2. ^ Quote: "The rough 100 km Harar–Jigjiga road constructed in 1932 is an indication of the attention paid to trade in the area. Seems to be of the opinion that the control of Jigjiga and the establishment of a fort at Karamara in 1891 was a move to control trade from Berbera and Zeila ports." (Page 5)[3]
  3. ^ Quote: "The Italians built a mosque in Jijiga. The road Harar-Jijiga 105 km was gravelled in the 1930s but not asphalted, and Jijiga-Garbailek 60 km to the border was maintained but not coated. The trail Jijiga-Shebeli 55 km was listed by the Italians in 1938 among "piste difficilissime"" (Page 7)[4]
  4. ^ Quote: የኢትዮ-ጅቡቲ ትራንስፖርት ኮሪደር አካል የኾነው የደንገጎ-ሐረር-ቁልቢ-አዋሽ መገንጠያ መንገድ መደበኛ ጥገና እየተደረገለት ነው። Translation: The Dengego-Harar-Kulubi-Awash Intersection Road, which is part of the Ethio-Djibouti Transport Corridor, is undergoing regular maintenance.[7]
  5. ^ Quote: በሩብ አመቱ በአገልግሎት ብዛት ለብልሽት የተዳረገዉ የደንገጎ-ሐረር መንገድ ዳግመኛ በአስፋልት ደረጃ የተጠገነ ሲሆን ፣ በሜኢሶ-ድሬዳዋ መስመር ለትራፊክ አስቸጋሪ በሆኑ የመንገድ ክፍሎች ላይ የመደበኛ እና የከባድ ጥገና ስራዎች ተከናውነዋል፡፡ Translation: The Dengego-Harar road, which was damaged due to heavy traffic during the quarter, was resurfaced to asphalt level, and routine and heavy maintenance work was carried out on the Meiso-Dire Dawa route on sections of the road that were difficult for traffic.[8]
  6. ^ Quote: "Along this road there are many religiously important places for the Christians and the Muslims alike. In the first part of the road in the north near Asebot town one can see Asebot Mountain, at the top of which one of the most famous Orthodox monasteries is located. The St. Gabriel Church in Kulubi is one of the most important pilgrimage places for the Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia" (Page VII)[10]
  7. ^ Quote: "The Dengego – MelkaJebdu National Forest Priority Area (NFPA) is one of the 58 NFPAs of Ethiopia. Some section of the Mieso – Dire Dawa Expressway crosses part of this NFPA." (Page 64)[11]
  8. ^ Quote: "The rock art site of Olad is located some 40 kms away from the city of Harar in Error Dodotta woreda in Olad kebele. The site is found south east of Harar on the main road via to Babile and it takes an average of 3 hrs. " (Page 88)[12]
  9. ^ Quote: "The rock art site of DagaFerenji is located some 20 kms away from the city of Harar in Error Dodotta Woreda at Genda Roka rural kebele at the village of Kimet. It is found to the south east of Harar on the main road to Jijiga." (Page 88)[12]
  10. ^ Quote: "The Karamara Range is shown as an area in black; the Karamara Range separates the Jerer Valley (shown in blue) and the Fafen Valley (shown in red). Black line indicates national boundary between Ethiopia and Somalia." (Page 6 § Figure 1)[16]

References

  1. ^ "Geometric Design Manual (Classification and Description of Roads)". Ethiopian Roads Administration. 2013. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  2. ^ "List of Federal Road Network in 2016" (PDF). Ethiopian Roads Authority. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  3. ^ Gebresenbet, Fana (2018). "Perishable state-making: Vegetable trade between self-governance and ethnic entitlement in Jigjiga, Ethiopia" (PDF). Danish Institute for International Studies. ISBN 978-87-7605-911-8.
  4. ^ Lindahl, Bernhard (2005). Local History of Ethiopia: Jib Dur-Jilfal (PDF). Nordic Africa Institute library.
  5. ^ "Local Construction Of 360m Br Harar-Jijiga Road Begins". Addis Fortune via Ethioconstruction.net. 2013-11-12. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  6. ^ "World Bank pumps 730 million USD in Ethiopia's transport artery". Capital Newspaper. 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  7. ^ "የደንገጎ-ሐረር-ቁልቢ-አዋሽ መገንጠያ መንገድ ጥገና እየተደረገለት ነው" [The Dengego-Harar-Kulubi-Awash Intersection Road is being repaired]. Ethiopian Roads Administration via Facebook (in Amharic). 2024-06-28. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19.
  8. ^ "የድሬደዋ የመንገድ ጥገና ዲስትሪክት የተለያዩ የጥገና ስራዎችን በማካሄድ ላይ ነው" [Dire Dawa Road Maintenance District is actively undertaking a range of road maintenance projects]. Ethiopia Road Administration via Facebook (in Amharic). 2024-11-12. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  9. ^ Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (2016). Ethiopia Geographic Base Map (PDF) (Topographic map). 1:250,000. WLRC Land Cover Map. University of Bern. § Map Sheet #11 (C4 Dire Dawa/Harari/Somali).
  10. ^ "Environmental Impact Analysis of the Five Roads selected for rehabilitation and/or upgrading Awash-Kulubi-Dire Dawa-Harar Road" (PDF). World Bank via the The Coalition for Human Rights in Development. 1997.
  11. ^ "Environmentaland Social Management Framework (ESMF) for Horn of Africa Initiative: Regional Economic Corridor Project (HoAI-RECP)" (PDF). World Bank Document Library. 2022.
  12. ^ a b Leta, Dagnachew (2014). "The Potential of Rock Art Tourism for Sustainable Socio – Economic Development: The Case of Harar – Dire Dawa Region, Southeastern Ethiopia". Journal of Hospitality Management and Tourism.
  13. ^ Lindahl, Bernhard (2005). "Local History of Ethiopia: Ba Lakmadobe - Bakyuje" (PDF). Nordic Africa Institute Library. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  14. ^ Ethiopia: Agro-Ecological Belts (PDF) (Topographic map). 1:250,000. Northern Ethiopia: Soil Conservation Research Programme. 1995. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  15. ^ Mège, Daniel; Purcell, Peter; Bezos, Antoine; Jourdan, Fred & La, Carole (2015). "A major dyke swarm in the Ogaden region south of Afar and the early evolution of the Afar triple junction". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. doi:10.1144/SP420.7. At the Marda Pass, where the Harar/Jijiga road cuts across the Range, excellent local exposures reveal an undulating erosional contact between the basal Marda lava flow and the underlying Jurassic Hamanlei Formation limestones
  16. ^ Amer, Saud; Gachet, Alain; Belcher, Wayne; Bartolino, James & Hopkin, Candice. "Groundwater Exploration and Assessment in the Eastern Lowlands and Associated Highlands of the Ogaden Basin Area, Eastern Ethiopia: Phase 1 Final Technical Report" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
  17. ^ Visser, Reinier; Hulshof, Mieke; Tibebe, Yitbarek; Tolk, Lieselotte & Weert, Frank (2016). "Project area with main reference features" (Map). Atlas of the Upper Fafan Catchment (PDF). Somali Region: Acacia Water and Wetlands International. p. 2.
  18. ^ Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (2016). Ethiopia: Geographic Base Map (PDF) (Topographic map). 1:15,000,000. WLRC Land Cover Map. University of Bern. § Map Sheet #5 (B3 North-Eastern Somali). Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  19. ^ Google (2025-01-20). "Driving Directions from Awash (A1) to Dengego (A10A)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  20. ^ Google (2025-01-20). "Driving Directions from Awash (A1) to Jijiga (C104)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2025-01-20.