THE ROLE OF URBAN ROAD ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF TULU BOLO TOWN, SOUTH WEST SHEWA ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Road is a fundamental requirement for facilitating socio-economic development. Roads are central to socio-economic development and poverty alleviation. This study assesses the profile of road and the role of urban road to socio-economic development of Tulu Bolo town. A descriptive research design was employed. Both primary and secondary data sources were used. A total of 190 respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique to collect the data. But all workers of municipal office of Tulu Bolo town were taken as the main participants through purposive sampling techniques. The method of data collection used includes questionnaires, interview, field observation and documents. Data that were collected through close-ended questionnaires were edited, coded, classified, tabulated and organized in the form of tables, graph and pie chart have been analyzed through frequency, percentage and mean via SPSS version 21. However, data that were collected through interviews and observation were analyzed inductively using narrations and descriptions through words, phrases and statements, whereas the data collected from documents were organized in the form of tables, graph and analyzed via percentage. The result indicated that a good paved road attract more socio-economic activities than the unpaved road condition. From this study, it was revealed that the study area has a total length of 183.5km of roads. A total of 4.57km (2%) constituted paved while about 179km (98%) constituted unpaved roadsAbout 77.5% of households had access to volcanic ash road and poor road due to low maintenance practice and adequate coverage. The study also revealed that a greater percentage of the roads are deteriorated and it lack adequate road furniture’s like drainage and streetlight. This adversely affected the socio-economic development of the town. It limits accessibility to different land use function, social services, mobility and societal interaction especially at rainy season. The result shows that paved road has more capacity to attract business and investment activities than unpaved road. But income generating investment in the area was at infant stage so it creates insignificant work opportunities. Road provision and management was limited due to scarce resources and lack of stakeholders’ participation. This study recommends that the development of the road be given priority attention in order to reduce internal disparities in development and hastened development