Introduction:
 Formerly
known as Pipeline Road the Kairaba Avenue (map)
was named after the Gambia's former President Sir Dawda Kairaba
Jawara. It runs eastwards from the Total petrol station on the
Atlantic coast and terminates at the monument at Westfield
in Serrekunda.
The reason it used to be called Pipeline Rd. was because it is
so long (3 Km). It transects Fajara
M and F sections. The road itself is lined with banks,
restaurants,
mobile telephone
companies, fashion shops and other retail outlets. The year
2006 saw the installation of street lights running most of the
length of this road terminating at the traffic lights.
 It
is the main thoroughfare which runs in a relatively straight line
from the 2 monuments at Westfield Junction up past Kairaba
Shopping Centre in a north easterly direction up to Mama's
Restaurant. On the south east end of Kairaba Avenue is more
or less the Serrekunda / Latrikunda section which has the Post
Office, Africell,
Latrikunda School, LG
Electronics. Once you get past the Africell headquarters you
go past the Ecobank,
FIB,
Elton
Petrol Station, Le
Palais du Chocolat (sells cakes & ice cream), Photo Express,
La
Parisienne (a patisserie retailer) and the new Access
Bank on the left hand side. About 100 m further down on the
right side is the US Peace
Corps building shortly followed by the American
Embassy which is opposite GT
Bank.
Still going north east you come across MP
Trading, Prime
Stationery, Right Choice Supermarket and at the flyover junction
there are 2 main landmarks which are the Standard Chartered House
and the Oryx Petrol Station at the intersection. After 10am this
area is full of billboards, street peddlers, beggars, fruit sellers,
taxis and chancers. Immediately further down from this point it
becomes more relaxed and quieter as the roadside is full of more
residential houses. The first place you see is the Kairaba
Police Station on the right and further down to your
 left
is the Sankung
Sillah building (one of the tallest buildings in The Gambia).
Soon you reach the Bakau
New Town junction (Sabena Junction) on your right which leads
you into Bakau New Town and towards Banjul.
After this junction are a row of shops and restaurants including
The Emporium
Shopping Mall, The Butcher's
Shop (restaurant), The Stone's Lounge, Pipper's kids
 clothes
shop and Francisco's and Mama's restaurant. At this point you
have hit the end of the road junction and ahead of you is the
Atlantic
Boulevard.
You can get to the ocean by carrying on in a straight line uphill
on a dirt road and down to Leybato.
Places To Stay:
There is no real accommodation
to stay on the  Kairaba
Avenue however, just off the road you can find Francisco's Hotel,
JD Apartments, Sermaho Residence, The Malawi Guesthouse
and Fajara Golf Apartments.
Property Prices:
 The
cost of an empty plot of land alone is astronomical as there is
heavy competition from international companies to base their headquarters
along this commercially lucrative thoroughfare.
Road Conditions:
It is best when driving south east during the daytime to avoid
Kairaba Avenue from the traffic lights up to the junction at Westfield.
This is because cars are normally slow moving and almost bumper-to-bumper
which can cause you unnecessary delay. Try and take the back roads
from the Stadium and into Kanifing then go onto one of 3 main
roads: 1 leads into Westfield Junction from the Banjul Highway
and the other 2 lead directly onto Kairaba Avenue.
The Kairaba Avenue itself has not been resurfaced for many years
now erosion is beginning to take its toll on the edges making
it difficult to get off the road and onto the 'kerb'. Hopefully
it will soon follow other road projects in the Gambia and be re-surfaced.
 
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