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Crime Reporter
The major road through Ridgeview in Harare, the Ganges Road, has been undergoing surfacing and reopens soon, as more roads are also currently being reconstructed countrywide under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP).
In Harare, over 40 roads have so far been rehabilitated over the initial target of 32 roads.
Road construction falls under the infrastructure cluster and roads are regarded as key economic enablers in line with the vision of attaining an upper middle income economy by 2030.
The Government has so far spent over $1 billion on road rehabilitation, gravelling and drainage structuring as part of the Second Republic’s ERRP2 launched by President Mnangagwa early last year.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona confirmed that Ganges Road will soon be open to traffic. Ganges Road is the old runway for the Belvedere Airport and while was reclaimed from the bush as a main road more than half a century ago was reckoned to be usable. It finally needed fixing.
Ganges Road runs through to Ridgeview and passes near Zesa National Training Centre, Harare Institute of Technology and Belvedere Technical Teachers’ College. The road has a length of 2,23 kilometres.
Minister Mhona confirmed that several other roads countrywide were currently being reconstructed or rehabilitated with some almost complete. Another road, St Patrick’s, the main central east-west road through Hatfield that was in a terrible state, has also been completed and opened to traffic in Harare as the Government presses ahead with modernising the country’s road network.
St Patrick’s Road, which links motorists with Seke Road and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Expressway that leads to the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, has been completely re-done and now awaits road markings.
Minister Felix Mhona, said the quality of work by construction companies involved in the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) was satisfactory and the roads can last up to 20 years before requiring extensive rehabilitation.
The Government took over the rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads in towns and cities after realising that the inept opposition was failing or unable to channel funds towards roads rehabilitation.
City roads were supposed to be under the purview of local authorities, but councils have failed to maintain them.
President Mnangagwa had listened to the requests by citizens for road rehabilitation to be taken over by the Government.
The Government is expected to roll-out another massive road restoration exercise targeting not only highways, but those roads in communities and other feeder roads to ensure no one is left behind in line with President Mnangagwa’s demand.
The Harare-Bindura highway reconstruction under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 2 has started.
The contractor, Bitumen World expects to take six months to bring the road up the required standard.
The Government has taken a deliberate approach of modernising infrastructure including transport and electricity infrastructure, which is a key enabler for economic growth and development.
Over 2 000km of roads have been regravelled, while 6 627,9km have been graded with 701 drainage structures constructed or repaired and 184 wash-ways reclaimed.
Across the country, 4 491,5km of drains have been opened while 6 141,2km of verges have been cleared with progress continuing to be made on the patching of potholes with a cumulative of 4 794,8km having been attended to.
Online Reporter