Roads in East Timor
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In East Timor, transportation is reduced due to the nation's poverty, poor transportation infrastructure.
Roadways
Overview
East Timor has a road network of 6,041 km (3,754 mi), of which about 2,600 km (1,600 mi) of roads are paved, and about 3,440 km (2,140 mi) are unpaved.
The road network is made up of national roads linking municipal capitals (~1,500 km (930 mi)), municipal roads linking municipal capitals to towns and villages (~870 km (540 mi)), urban roads within urban areas (~717 km (446 mi)) and rural roads within rural areas (~3,112 km (1,934 mi)).[1] In a 2015 survey reported by the World Bank, 57% of the rural roads were rated either bad or poor.
While under Portuguese rule, East Timor's road system, like the road network in all Portuguese colonies, adhered to right-hand drive. After the Indonesian takeover in 1975, the roads were made to switch to left-hand drive (like virtually all of present-day Indonesia). Upon independence in 2002 the left-hand traffic rule was retained.
National roads
East Timor has 20 arterial roads, designated as A-class roads (national roads), as follows:[2]
| No | From | To | Length (km) |
Length (mi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A01 | Dili | Com, Lautém | 203.9 | 126.7 |
| A02<1 | Dili | Suai | 176.4 | 109.6 |
| A03 | Dili | Mota Ain | 118.2 | 73.4 |
| A03' | Batugade | Maliana | 42.4 | 26.3 |
| A04 | Tibar | Ermera | 46.8 | 29.1 |
| A05 | Aitotu | Betano | 55.6 | 34.5 |
| A06 | Baucau | Viqueque | 64.9 | 40.3 |
| A07 | Viqueque | Natarbora | 46.0 | 28.6 |
| A08 | Lautém | Viqueque | 121.7 | 75.6 |
| A09 | Manatuto | Natarbora | 79.5 | 49.4 |
| A10 | Ermera | Hauba | 66.9 | 41.6 |
| A11 | Maliana | Ermera | 64.7 | 40.2 |
| A12 | Zumalai | Maliana | 52.5 | 32.6 |
| A13 | Cassa | Aiassa | 25.1 | 15.6 |
| A14 | Betano | Natarbora | 47.7 | 29.6 |
| A15 | Suai | Uemassa | 27.5 | 17.1 |
| A16 | Uele'o | Tilomar | 33.4 | 20.8 |
| A17 | Pante Macassar | Oesilo | 25.3 | 15.7 |
| A18 | Pante Macassar | Citrana | 44.9 | 27.9 |
| A19 | Pante Macassar | Sacato | 14.8 | 9.2 |
| Total | 1,358.2 | 843.9 | ||
In October 2016, the East Timorese government symbolically launched a rehabilitation project for the Dili–Manatuto–Baucau national road. Construction was to be undertaken in two sections, Dili–Manatuto, and Manatuto–Baucau, in each case by a Chinese construction company. The project was financed by the General State Budget, and also from a loan fund from the Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It was due to be completed in mid-2019,[3] and the completed road was officially inaugurated on 26 August 2022.[4]
According to a road network connectivity quality assessment published in September 2019, the national road network already satisfactorily connected all national activity centres for all types of vehicles in circulation. However, some of the road segments needed to be improved, in terms of road width, drainage, geometric design and traffic facilities.[5]
Bridges
- Bridges in Dili
Two road bridges over the Comoro River link central Dili with the west side of the city, including the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport and the Tibar Bay port, which as at early 2022 was due to start operations later that year. The more important of these two bridges is the CPLP Bridge; its alternative, approximately 800 m (2,600 ft) to its south, is the Hinode Bridge.[6]
At the north eastern corner of central Dili, the B. J. Habibie Bridge spans the Claran River, and connects central Dili with the eastern waterfront of the Bay of Dili.[7]
- Noefefan Bridge
This bridge, also known as the Tono Bridge, was inaugurated in 2017 as part of the ZEESM TL project in Oecusse.
References
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.
- ^ "2.3 Timor-Leste Road Network - Logistics Capacity Assessment - Digital Logistics Capacity Assessments". dlca.logcluster.org. World Food Programme. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- ^ "The Project for the Capacity Development of Road Works in Timor: Outline of the Project | Technical Cooperation Projects". Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Ministry of Public Works rehabilitates the Dili-Manatuto-Baucau road". Government of Timor-Leste. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- ^ "National Road No.1, Closely Connecting Dili and Baucau, Opens Under Timor-Leste's First Loan Project". Japan International Cooperation Agency. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ Babo, Frans de Jesus; Suprayitno, Hitapriya (September 2019). "Road Network Connectivity Quality Assesment [sic] for Timor Leste National Road Network". Journal of Infrastructure and Facility Asset Management. 1 (2): 113–212, at 120. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "Opening Ceremony of "Hinode Bridge"". Japan International Cooperation Agency. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- ^ coilNEWS (29 August 2019). "Foto: Peresmian Jembatan BJ Habibie di Dili, Timor Leste" [Photo: Inauguration of the BJ Habibie Bridge in Dili, Timor Leste]. kumparan (in Indonesian). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
Further reading
- Rural Roads Master Plan & Investment Strategy 2016-2020 (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications, Government of Timor-Leste. September 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
External links
Media related to Roads in East Timor at Wikimedia Commons