Tripoli–Cape Town Highway
Trans-African Highway 3 | ||||
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South end | TAH 4 in Cape Town, South Africa | |||
Location | ||||
Highway system | ||||
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The Tripoli–Cape Town Highway or TAH 3 is
South Africa was not originally included in the route which was first planned in the Apartheid era, but it is now recognized that it would continue to Cape Town. It may still be referred to in documents as the Tripoli-Windhoek Highway because of this fact.
It is meant to be the second link between North and Southern Africa, with the
Route
The route passes through
Northern section
The Tripoli–Cape Town Highway is not a high priority in its northern section across the Sahara between Tripoli and Ndjamena, for which the Trans-Sahara Highway further west would probably find more usage and which provides an alternative north–south route. Libya is said to be more interested in road links to Niger which would connect with the Trans-Sahara Highway. Coupled with lawlessness and the potential for instability in the Libya-Chad border regions, the northern section is likely to be the last to be developed and may be a couple of decades away from completion.
Central section
It is the central section between northern Angola and Cameroon which is most needed because it would provide the first paved link between the West African and Southern African regions, and it would do the most to stimulate trade which currently has to go by air or sea. The central section is however a 'missing link', and the planned alignment between CAR and ROC would pass through some of the most remote and difficult terrain and rainforests of the Sangha River basin. This alignment has the potential for an enormous environmental impact on relatively untouched forest within a number of nature reserves.
An alternative alignment for the road has been proposed between
Between Dolisié and
Southern section
The southern section between DRC and Cape Town on the other hand is an important regional road in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The Route follows south on the N1 highway in the DRC. It enters Angola through the EN140 and follows south through to the EN120 and enters the B1 in Namibia. The route continues to follow South and connects into South Africa using the N7 highway. The highway continues south until it interchanges with the N1 and M7 highways in Cape Town.
Paving of existing roads is required in northern Angola but from Ngage through Angola, Namibia's B1 road and South Africa's N7 highway to Cape Town is fully paved and is in a fair to good condition.
See also
- Trans-African Highway network
- Lagos-Mombasa Highway
References
- African Development Bank/United Nations Economic Commission For Africa: "Review of the Implementation Status of the Trans African Highways and the Missing Links: Volume 2: Description of Corridors". August 14, 2003. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
- Michelin Motoring and Tourist Map: "Africa North and West". Michelin Travel Publications, Paris, 2000.