admin
Jemira Chitakunye
SCORES of Chitungwiza commuters and motorists have backed H-Metro’s campaign for authorities to be innovative and turn Seke Road into a three-lane highway TWICE a day – once during the early morning rush hour and once during the evening rush hour.
The huge increase in traffic between Chitungwiza and Harare, with many residents now owning cars while there has been a significant increase in new settlements, which has increased the number of commuters ferried by kombis, has resulted in lengthy traffic jams along Seke Road, especially during the rush hour in the morning and evening.
In the morning rush hour, the traffic jams now start as far as the Koala Meat Meat complex while drivers and commuters also face a similar nightmare in the evening rush hour.
Drivers are forced to create a third lane, on the double lane highway, while kombi drivers and others create a fourth lane, which uses the dust roads on the edges of the highway.
H-Metro believes this congestion, which has resulted in a lot of workers reporting for work late, can be resolved by just being innovative and using the existing Seke Road infrastructure.
“We believe this can be resolved by simply creating a third lane, along the same highway, during rush hour and this will mean that, for instance, at specific times in the morning, the traffic coming from Chitungwiza to Harare has three lanes,” said H-Metro Editor Robson Sharuko.
“The traffic going from Harare to Chitungwiza will be restricted to only one lane.
“Police can come up with the plan and can say, for instance, between 6am and 8.30am, Sekere Road becomes a three-lane highway for traffic coming out of Chitungwiza heading for Harare.
“At 8.30am, the restrictions are lifted and Sekere Road assumes its usual state as a highway with two lanes going either way.
“During the evening rush hour, the police can change the arrangements again and order that traffic coming out of Harare and heading to Chitungwiza will use three lanes while the traffic coming into Harare will use a single lane.
“The police can arrange that this arrangement starts at 5,30pm and the restrictions end at 7,30pm at which time Seke Road will assume its usual state as a highway with two lanes going either way.
“It’s clearly frustrating that in the morning rush hour there is congestion on the two lanes bringing traffic to Harare and little traffic on the two lanes used for trips from Harare to Chitungwiza.”
He added:
“We have already seen some daring motorists and kombi drivers breaking all the traffic laws and using one of the lanes reserved for traffic going into Chitungwiza on their trips to Harare during the morning rush hour.
“To their credit, the police have started to be innovative and they now open a third and fourth lane in Hatfield for morning traffic coming out of Chitungwiza to use because of the congestion created by the traffic that is also coming from Waterfalls.
“They briefly block all the traffic coming from Harare to create this space and because it is working it shows that it can be done on a larger scale and be extended to the whole of Seke Road.
“There is no need to have a massive congestion of cars occupying two lanes, at the flyover just before getting into town, when there is very little traffic on the other two lanes of Seke Road taking traffic out of the city.
“This can also be done in Mabvuku and all the other high density suburbs where there are two-way highways.”
Some drivers, and Chitungwiza commuters, who were interviewed by H-Metro backed the newspaper’s campaign.
A motorist, George Kazenge, expressed his frustration to H-Metro, saying:
“We are experiencing unacceptable delays and we urge the relevant authorities to assist us and, if possible, by evening expanding the road.
“If that is not possible, allowing Chitungwiza motorists to use both sides of Seke Road during peak hours could be a temporary solution.”
Kazenge added that the delays are affecting commuters’ work schedules with many of them reporting late for work.
“Our employers are complaining because we are getting to work even at 9am.”
A commuter, John Moyo, said:
“These alternative roads are a danger to us passengers, especially during the rainy season, as they are in a poor condition.
“This could lead to accidents.
“If we can get help it will be a great benefit for Chitungwiza residents.”
Another commuter said:
“Look, you have to be at the bus stop by 5.30 am if you start work around 7am because of not then you will get to work after 8am.
“I am pleading with authorities to consider our plea for a solution to this traffic madness.”
A kombi driver said:
“It’s a good idea to change things a bit. Remember Seke Road used to have just two lanes but the population increased and changes were made and we now have four lanes.
“The population has also increased again and there are more cars on the road now and we need to find a solution and I like the idea you are talking about but it will require a lot of police presence.”
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter