Morogoro Road and Tanzania’s Logistics Crisis: The Case for a Dual-Carriageway to Dodoma

Morogoro Road has long been one of Tanzania’s most vital transport arteries. As the eastern segment of the T1 trunk road, it forms a key link between Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest city and main port, and inland economic centres, including Morogoro and the administrative capital, Dodoma. 

Morogoro Road now carries a second, more damaging reputation: it has become one of Tanzania’s most severe economic bottlenecks. Congestion on this corridor is steadily eroding productivity, inflating logistics costs, and imposing a daily financial burden on businesses, commuters, and the public sector. Incremental widening and short-term fixes no longer keep pace with traffic growth. A decade ago, the journey between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro could be completed in roughly two and a half hours. Today, that same trip routinely takes twice as long, turning what was once a regional connector into a rolling constraint on economic activity.

The scale of the problem requires a dedicated, modern dual-carriageway from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma that can absorb growth in both passenger and freight traffic with predictable economic outcomes.

Traffic Congestion: Measurable Losses and Productivity Drain

Traffic congestion is not merely a nuisance. It is measurable economic friction that reduces output and raises costs.

A 2016 study on congestion in Dar es Salaam found that workers commuting along major thoroughfares such as Morogoro and Mandela roads can lose up to 2.5 hours per day to delays caused by traffic jams. On average, travel time during peak hours was shown to be more than twice the time required during off-peak periods, which translates to a significant loss in economic activity and worker productivity. 

For example, if a commuter spends an additional hour on the road compared to a free-flowing scenario, that time is non-productive, meaning the economy essentially loses that labour hour without receiving output in return. Multiplied by tens of thousands of workers and hundreds of freight movements, the aggregate drag on GDP becomes substantial.

Logistics Costs and Business Competitiveness

Dar es Salaam is the linchpin of Tanzania’s trade and logistics network. The port handles the majority of imports and exports, both for Tanzania and neighbouring landlocked countries. But once cargo leaves the port, it often travels by road along Morogoro Road and beyond.

Recent traffic data shows that roughly 30,000 vehicles use the Kibaha–Mailimoja stretch of the road daily, and approximately 36% of these are heavy lorries, the vehicles on which the export economy depends most. 

Heavy vehicles trapped in congestion have higher Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC). Delays increase fuel consumption, require more frequent maintenance, and accelerate depreciation. In other words, congestion taxes transport operators in cash: more money for fuel, tyres, brakes, oil changes and repairs that could otherwise go into expansion, investment or employment.

In comparable infrastructure studies, improved trunk roads have shown reductions in VOC of around 30% after upgrade savings that directly benefit firms and consumers. 

Without a high-capacity dual carriageway, Tanzania’s logistics costs, already high relative to regional competitors, will remain a structural burden. This discourages local firms from scaling, exporters from diversifying, and foreign investors from committing. Efficient logistics is central to economic competitiveness, not an ancillary nicety.

Safety and Health: Hidden Economic Costs

Congested road networks are also less safe. When heavy vehicles, buses, motorcycles and private cars share narrow lanes without adequate separation, the incidence of crashes rises.

Accident costs are substantial. Historical estimates indicate that road traffic accidents in Dar es Salaam alone previously amounted to TSh 466 billion in lost value, including treatment, loss of productivity, trauma services and property damage.

Early empirical work on traffic congestion also shows its toll on health (pollution exposure, stress) and productivity. Emissions from stalled traffic contribute to poorer air quality, which harms respiratory health and increases medical costs for families and employers alike.

These human costs can be quantified and eventually erode labour force participation, a slow but real economic leakage that is rarely captured in simple GDP figures.

Morogoro Road Today: Structure and Constraints

Morogoro Road is part of Tanzania’s T1 trunk corridor, which extends from Dar es Salaam westward toward the country’s interior and borders. Its current configuration, often a two-lane highway with limited overtaking space, was never designed for current traffic volumes.

Planning documentation and road authority disclosures highlight that this section is highly congested and operating below acceptable service levels. The strategic objective of upgrading it to an expressway standard four lanes (dual carriageway) with controlled access, has been identified as a high-priority transport infrastructure solution.

Why a Dual Carriageway Makes Economic Sense

A dual carriageway is more than just “more lanes.” It is a design that:

• Separates opposing traffic flows, reducing accidents
• Increases average speeds, lowering travel time
• Improves logistics predictability, stabilizing supply chains
• Lowers VOC, making freight cheaper
• Supports higher traffic volumes, enabling future growth
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International practice, reflected in multiple World Bank and African Development Bank road projects shows that well-designed dual carriageways can reduce travel times dramatically and cut operating costs by a significant margin compared to single-lane or undivided highways.

Put in hard economic terms: if travel times are cut by even 30–40% and VOC falls by 20–30%, the cumulative savings across freight firms, passenger services and private commuters in a diversified economy like Tanzania’s will quickly dwarf the initial construction costs.

Complementarity with SGR, Not Substitution

Tanzania has already invested heavily in rail. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), launched in 2024, connects Dar es Salaam to Dodoma and is part of a broader network aimed at boosting domestic and regional trade.

But rail and road are complementary, not substitutes:

• Rail can move bulk freight efficiently over long distances
• Roads handle first- and last-mile connectivity
• Roads also carry passenger, perishable and time-sensitive traffic

Without a modern dual-carriageway, the gains from the SGR are muffled by bottlenecks at the terminals. Goods may arrive faster by rail, but if they cannot leave the station swiftly on road networks, the economic benefits are diminished.

Strategic Opportunity and Future Gains

Building a dual carriageway linking Dar es Salaam to Dodoma through Morogoro would not only relieve congestion. It would also:

• Lower logistics costs across sectors
• Improve competitiveness of Tanzanian goods
• Reduce accident and health costs
• Attract private investment into transport-dependent industries
• Integrate urban and regional economies more tightly

This is national infrastructure, not urban planning. The difference between congestion and mobility is not measured in minutes. It is measured in economic growth potential.

Investing in Capacity, Not Congestion

Morogoro Road’s current performance, high traffic volumes, slow speeds, elevated risks and hidden logistics costs, is not a detail of Dar es Salaam’s urban life. It is a national economic drag.

The evidence shows that traffic congestion in Dar es Salaam directly hits productivity, eats into logistics margins, raises vehicle operating costs, and contributes to safety risks with measurable economic costs.

The SGR investment is strategic for long-haul capacity. But without a high-capacity dual-carriageway to absorb and distribute road traffic efficiently, Tanzania will be running on one rail while its road arteries choke.

This is not just transport policy. It is economic policy.

And it is time for Tanzania to build a dual-carriageway from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, not as a luxury, but as a necessary investment in national productivity and competitiveness.