daniel chigunwe
Laura Maposa
TRANSPORT and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona yesterday opened the completed Harare Drive missing link road and Mukuvisi River Bridge, which are under the Mbudzi Interchange construction project.
Work at the massive project now stands at 85 percent complete.
“The bridge is a link from Chinzou to Masocha and 800m long,” Min Mhona said.
“It is part of Harare Drive, it links the east to the west.
“It may seem like a small bridge but this will decongest the road. It provides the traveller with a choice of cutting time.
“The bridge is one of the 15 bridges needed for the Mbudzi Interchange and associated works south of Harare.
“Previously, there was no bridge, and increasing traffic volumes caused congestion, especially during morning and evening peak hours.
“Another bridge is on the Harare Drive missing link and it has also been completed and will be opened to traffic soon.
“The Mbudzi Interchange is made up of 15 bridges, with 13 directly on the interchange and two more on Amalinda Road and Harare Drive.”
He added:
“We are gravitating towards the north, going to Chirundu from Harare, even the Border Post.
“Not only that, we are also going to fix the Nyamapanda Road, which was recently approved by the Cabinet, together with the Border Post.”
A local resident, Simbarashe Farawo, said:
“We are very happy that the Minister and the Government have provided this for us. We have been facing so many problems.
“We were experiencing many problems, for instance, a child was coming from school and was trying to cross the bridge.
“He slipped and fell into the water and, unfortunately, he lost his life.
“We have been having trouble connecting from Parktown to Houghton Park.
“Now it’s easier to travel and it’s now safer and, instead of going right around, we are now going straight from Parktown to Mbudzi Roundabout.”
Another resident, Mercy Chihwada, said:
“This area was not safe for women, especially young girls, as it was just a bush.
“To go to Parktown one had to go around wasting time and fuel.
“But now we are very grateful that our problems have been resolved.”
Online Reporter