M4 road (Zambia)

The M4 road is a road in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The road connects the city of Ndola (Capital of the Copperbelt) with the city of Mufulira and extends to connect Mufulira with the city of Kitwe. As it is a v-shaped route, the M4 road starts and ends at a junction with the T3 road.

It is the only route that connects the rest of the Copperbelt Province to the town of Mufulira and to the Congo Pedicle road (which is a shortcut to Luapula Province via the Congo Pedicle).

Route
The M4 begins at a roundabout by Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in the city of Ndola. It begins at a junction with the T3 road (Luanshya Road; Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway). The M4 begins by going 60 km north-west to the town of Mufulira.

At Kamalasha, 18 km north of the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium roundabout, the M4 meets a road which goes eastwards and crosses the near border with DR Congo, with the town of Sakania on the other side of the border. It is one of the two borders which provides access to the Congo Pedicle Area of DR Congo from the Copperbelt Province of Zambia.

It enters Mufulira in a northwesterly direction as Ndola Road, bypassing the Mufulira Airport. South of Fairview at the Kitwe Road junction, as Ndola Road becomes the M5 road northwards and proceeds through Mufulira Central to become the Congo Pedicle road, the M4 becomes Kitwe Road by way of a left turn.

From Mufulira, the M4 exits the city in a southwesterly direction and goes for 25 km, crossing the Kafue River, to reach its terminus at another junction with the T3 road (Kitwe-Chingola Dual Carriageway) in the settlement of Sabina, 15 km north-west of the city centre of Kitwe & 10 km south-east of the town of Chambishi.

Road Importance
The Congo Pedicle road is an important road, as it provides a direct shortcut for people travelling from the Copperbelt Province and neighbouring provinces to the Luapula Province (and Northern Province) in northern Zambia. It is a road maintained by Zambia through Congolese territory. The road is from Mufulira, through the Mokambo border and the Congo Pedicle Area of DR Congo, to the Levy Mwanawasa Bridge at the Chembe border post, with the road continuing to the town of Mansa (capital of Luapula Province). The short 18km section from Mufulira Town Centre to the Congo Border is designated as the M5 road.

As the Congo Pedicle road provides a shorter route to the Luapula Province, it makes the M4 road an important road, as it is the only road that provides the rest of the Copperbelt Province with access to the town of Mufulira and the start of the Congo Pedicle road. Despite being in a poor condition, both the short western section from Kitwe to Mufulira and the long eastern section from Ndola to Mufulira are declared as important roads, as they provide access to a shorter route to Luapula Province than the longer route through the towns of Kapiri Mposhi and Serenje in Central Province.

The Congo Pedicle road proceeds as the shortcut to the Luapula Province, which is a route for people who plan to save on fuel between the two parts of Zambia and who plan to avoid spending hours on the road.

M5 Road
The M5 road is the short road that connects Mufulira with the Mokambo Border and the Congo Pedicle road (Shortcut to Luapula Province).

It begins as Chatulinga Street at the junction with the v-shaped M4 road (Ndola Road; Kitwe Road) south of Mufulira town centre, going northwards. At the junction with West Shafts Road just west of the Mufulira Railway and Mufulira Golf Course (east of the Mopani Copper Mine), the road turns towards the north-east and goes for 15 km to reach the Mokambo Border Post with DR Congo and become the Congo Pedicle road.

It becomes the M3 road at the Luapula end of the Congo Pedicle Road. The Congo Pedicle Road is designated as the N36 route on the DR Congo road network.

Ndola-Mufulira road concession
On 16 October 2023, the Government of Zambia signed a Public–private partnership (concession) agreement with Jaswin Ports Limited for the rehabilitation & maintenance of the section of the M4 connecting Ndola and Mufulira (amounting to 61 kilometres). The concession agreement is for a period of 22 years (up to 2045). Plans include rehabilitating the entire road connecting the two towns (which was in a poor state as of 2023   ) for the first 2 years, working on the one-kilometre access road to the Sakania border with DR Congo (18 km north of the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium roundabout in Ndola) and working on infrastructure at the Sakania border on the Zambian side. There are also plans to transform the entire route into a dual carriageway with 2 lanes in each direction.