Successful implementation of road construction projects in major parts of the city will result in the ease of access to the existing residential, business, industrial or, if there are any, agricultural corners of the metropolis. Such projects will also improve access to the highways that lead to other parts of the country. The projects can further have a major positive impact on the road network, providing safe routes for both pedestrians and local traffic. Most importantly, this would mean much improved linkages to existing commercial units, residences and other buildings, therefore benefiting economic development with the improvement of the transport network.
 

But these results will come about only when there is effective allocation of resources based on priorities that will lead to a maximum level of success. This implies careful selection as to which projects are the most important. This, however, does not seem to be the case with the road constructions taking place all over Addis, which are so abundant and huge as to make the city appear as though it is under complete reconstruction.
 

Neither has road construction funding in Addis Abeba kept pace with the necessary improvements, repairs or construction of new ones. The Addis Abeba City Roads Authority (AACRA) needs, therefore, to know how to maximise use of the scarcely available resources.
 

What is important is that the AACRA has to put a process in place for the prioritization of projects to ensure that taxpayers get the most value for the money spent. There are necessary steps towards project prioritization namely, setting a direction for what the implementer wants to accomplish, evaluating projects for how well they fit those goals, and at what cost.
 

The Roads Authority can make comparisons in order to identify those projects that best meet these goals. A simplified explanation of this process includes: identifying a problem or deficiency; exploring possible solutions; developing a scope for the project that takes into consideration possible environmental impacts; roadway design issues; and stakeholder concerns.
 

Based on the project scope, AACRA should develop a cost estimate or estimated range, determine the benefit the project will provide, and compare the costs and benefits of the project with other projects of its type in order to determine its order of rank and priority. What has been evident in the road constructions in Addis Abeba, however, is a lack of such procedures before making the final decision as to which road to construct.
 

A perfect example of this is the Gofa Mazoria-Cherkos Market road constructed years back. A few hundreds metres to the left and right of that road are two major roads, one of which has always been a point of the biggest traffic jam in the city. Commonly known as the Debrezeit Road, the road has traffic jams almost all day long, especially towards the section that makes the Confusion Square, the current site for the near completion of Gotera Interchange.
 

Appallingly though, the Cherkos Road, which AACRA prioritized above from other roads in the city, including the Meskel Square-Saris project that contains the Gotera Interchange, has never served proper traffic except for those that drive across to get to their residence or the market place, or especially as is the case most recently, it is used as a detour and shortcut to get to other main roads. Blocked by the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Station, which perhaps should entitle the road to the “Dead End” mark, that site has turned into an asphalted soccer field for the children and youngsters in the nearby villages to play on all through the week.

That can never be anything less than an outrageous failure by AACRA to properly identify which road should be constructed first, based on its importance to the overall traffic flow of the city.
 

Evidently, AACRA has been undertaking more than a dozen huge projects over the past more than three years whose finalization would certainly result in great change in the city’s road network. Yet again, the prioritization issue still concerns many, but the government does not seem to have the ear to listen to such concerns. Instead, its focus seems to be on the continuation of the appreciation it has won from various corners for its success story in expanding the road network at the Federal Level.
 

Some in the public, however, consider the massive constructions in every part of the city as a major image building exercise the ruling party has planned to impress the city dwellers. The party was not a favourite in the May 2005 elections.
 

Whatever the justifications might be, the lack of proper calculations has some serious socio-economic collateral damages. The public is suffering from the almost insignificant alternative roads. The delays in some of the constructions continue to impact some businesses. Most importantly, the huge spending for the constructions has been fuelling the double digit inflation.

International financial institutions have been advising the Ethiopian government to cut its spending to fight the headline inflation. But government has been stiffly resistant to the recommendations and continued with its showdown.
 

Economists argue that economic growth is created over the long run by a labour force which possesses the incentive to work and produce, and by entrepreneurs who are enticed into investing in capital stock. Through excessive spending, the government negatively affects the long-run economic growth rate of a free economy. This spending reduces labour force participation, increases unemployment, and reduces productivity.
 

The economists have, in fact, identified a list of impacts due to excessive government spending - it reduces labour-force participation by creating disincentives to work; makes labour markets more rigid by hampering the efficient flow of workers from declining industries to expanding industries; diminishes productivity growth rates by inhibiting innovation and capital accumulation; shrinks productivity as resources are withdrawn from the private sector and placed in the unproductive public sector; increases interest rates which decrease private investment; creates uncertainty that reduces the return of long-term investments; and crafts opportunities for rent-seekers to waste resources to curry political favour, despite the fact that rent-seeking distorts economic markets, reduces economic growth, and destroys the free market ethic.
 

Now the issue is not whether the government should consider these economic impacts. Government has argued that it would manage to fight the inflation without reducing its investments.
 

The issue, thus, is whether the City Government realizes that the road construction projects that have gathered momentum over more than three years now - though the constructions have been there for nearly a decade - are not all perfectly planned and prioritized so as to be considered projects worth the hassle, while thinking of their expected results. 
 

It is always good to pause and look around. The city is almost coming close to a standstill - roads are chopped everywhere, detours have not been properly thought about, and elongated interruptions in telecom and drinking water service have become major problems.

People are asking whether AACRA should do all these at once. People are questioning whether some of the ongoing projects should pioneer the improvement of some seriously damaged and sub-standard but highly significant roads they know. Perhaps it would be wise for the authorities at the City Roads Authority to put on the same eyeglasses the public have on for a while and see if they can work better on their prioritization and plans.

This may help the government execute projects wisely and reduce its spending, albeit, unwittingly.