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Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
MOTORISTS in Bulawayo are pleading with the Bulawayo City Council to expedite the rehabilitation of Luveve Road as they are having a hard time using it.
So bad is the road that a two-lane section stretching from Rio Turn-off to the traffic lights in Matshobana Suburb and another near Renkini have been closed to traffic for repair.
The local authority created detours at the closed-off sections, forcing traffic to and from the city centre to use one side of the road, causing traffic jams during rush hours.
To avoid the nightmare, most motorists have resorted to using Khami Road to get to the city centre from the Western suburbs, also causing chaos.
In November last year, the Government ordered the Bulawayo City Council to fix the road after the potholes on it had become death traps.
The once smooth Luveve Road, like most of the council’s 2 400km road network, is now in a very bad state.
Motorists were hopeful the road would be fixed quickly after council shut down parts of it in January and announced rehabilitation would take about 90 days.
In a statement yesterday, the town clerk, Mr Christopher Dube said the completion of Luveve Road improvement works will be delayed by approximately seven weeks.
He said the delay had been caused by the incessant rains during the month of February and adverse ground conditions.
“The adverse grounds (high water table/water logged soils and expansive clays) can be attributed to the delay.
These have had an adverse impact on construction works and have necessitated the extension of time and resulted in increased costs.
The expansive cays require specialised treatment and the high-water table will need a subsoil drainage system to be installed. To ensure the safety of the motoring public, pedestrians and workforce, there are a few measures which have been put in place,” said Mr Dube.
The measures, he said, include full carriageway closure of sections with traffic being diverted accordingly, lane closures when necessary, speed humps, and no stopping signs within the works extents.
Motorists did not receive the news with much enthusiasm as they said the road is now hazardous, particularly during peak hours.
Motorist hooting with impatience and trying to navigate their way through the road is the order of the day, especially around 5pm and 7am.
During the hustle and bustle, a Chronicle news crew spoke to Mr Ben Dube one of the kombi drivers who plies the Cowdray Park/ city centre route.
He had pulled up on a narrow shoulder of the road to inspect his car.
With impatience written all over his face as the crew was obviously delaying him from getting back into the long line of cars that were waiting for the ones in front to move, he said a seven-weeks wait was intolerably long.
He said moving on Luveve Road is now more difficult than when the road had potholes.
“Especially just after the Noczim robots, that is where the trouble is, especially when there is no Zesa because we now have to give each other time to all access the road with the oncoming traffic.
These days the traffic is a bit better. You should all come here in the morning and when they are school children because that is when there will be a lot of people. City council should open this road if they are failing to get it fixed in time because driving through the potholes was better,” said Mr Dube.
A motorist from Emakhandeni suburb, Mrs Sihle Ncube, said driving on the road after dark was very hard because drivers will be dazzling with bright headlights in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
She said she has since decided to use Khami Road, although she felt the distance was twice as long compared to when she used Luveve Road.
“This road is now dangerous. I fear for my life and the other motorists, especially those on the oncoming lane because it will take only one careless driver for a lot of people to lose their lives on that road.
Cars will be close to each other without any space to manoeuvre between them,” she said.
Earlier this year the local authority said US$9 million was needed to overhaul the entire length of the 9,2km Luveve Road but funding constraints have forced the local authority to attend to critical sections only.
“Luveve Road from Lobengula Street to Intemba Road has various modes and degrees of pavement distress which are evident along its length. Ideally, the entire length of Luveve road is due for improvement works which are estimated to cost approximately US$9 million.
But due to funding constraints, the intention is to attend to critical sections that are now impassable due to localised clutter of potholes within Luveve Road and the improvement works are estimated to cost approximately US$1,2 million.
“The city’s roads have further deteriorated due to recent rains and this has adversely affected the city’s entire road network.
The scope of works will include localised pavement reconstruction, asphalt concrete overlay, drainage works, signage and markings,” the council communications officer Ms Bongiwe Ngwenya said.–@flora_sibanda
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