Sigh. If Wade indeed gets his three bonus years to “finish his projects”, can he at least impose a ban on burning stuff on the corniche?
Okay, so contrary to what the Online Magic Eight Ball continues to tell me, I really don’t believe that Abdoualye Wade will be re-elected on 25 March. Still, whoever ends up holding the string that manipulates this yo-yo of a country, I do sincerely hope that the ubiquitous trash burning practice is placed under some form of civic control.
No matter what you say about the guy, Wade’s efforts to make the corniche a bright spot of downtown have been pretty successful. It is now a nice place to run, walk and have your taxi break down; you just don’t need to be choking on melted plastic while you’re doing said activities. Just look at how those two flaming trash heaps shaded this afternoon’s skyline! Breathe deeply, my friends.
Burning trash and smoke-scented workout clothing aside, I continue to exist in a cycle of frustration and impress as I live the ongoing construction projects in Dakar. Especially this one- the terminally long road widening project that has been the bane of my commuting existence since arriving two years ago. The road has reached the canal, and the intersection of the two roads will now be undone.
The Canal Road is nasty. You wanna know what sewage smells like? Come on down and breath deeply. You’ll be pining for burning trash.
And I almost hesitate to say this, but inside the canal is one of the only places in Dakar where green grass grows naturally. I don’t exactly classify this as a good thing.
After making all of those unkind observations, I will also say that I run through here fairly frequently (that is, when I’m not sidelined with stupid nagging injuries). There are many parts of the canal road that I actually enjoy- but my most favorite is the fact that the road has been closed off since construction began on canal-side tunnels.
Really- they are actually building more tunnels into this peninsul-tastic sandbar! I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t witnessed these massive iron things being hammered straight down into the ground by the world’s largest cartoon mallet.
Well, maybe not a mallet, but it did make a rather impressive clanking sound for days on end. Such feats of engineering never cease to amaze me.
And here the beams are, all whacked down and ready to support an underpass. Much like everything else in Dakar, the preliminary mess-making did not provide much indication on what was going to happen at this particular intersection of Canal Road and Avenue Chiekh Anta Diop. Instead, I would always just roll by and always wonder, “What the Hell are they doing now?”
Maybe I’m not giving Dakar enough credit, but as I look at this shiny SIM City-like activity, I can really feel the city coming into a new era of development. While my taximen may curse the ever-changing traffic patterns on a daily basis (you wouldn’t believe how many areas of Dakar I have discovered with all the project-related detours), the latter stages of construction look quite promising.
Here the road has already been widened, and the number of vehicles deliberately driving down the wrong side of the road because they’re annoyed that they drive cross over the median barrier have been decreasing. Solar lights have been installed, and after two years it’s an absolute pleasure to drive through this part of town. Construction of the tunnel continues just underneath this spot.
Once this portion of the project is done, I wonder if they will get around to updating the canal itself. Don’t get me wrong, I like walking over this footbridge- it takes me to the side of the street where scores of bulky leather furniture sit out all year long with hand-painted signs bearing the vendor’s cell phone number.
Smoke signals and open air sewage all told, I believe it’s just a matter of time before construction in Dakar and indeed the rest of the country continues in such a way that makes life better for its citizens.
I definitely think Macky’s first act should be to install a giant suggestion box outside his office door, because I know a lot of Senegalese who have some great ideas.
