Proposed one-way system noble, but council flunks

access to and from Rotten Row in the west, but the council appears to have flunked the solution offered years ago by its own experts.
The present one-way system works well on wide roads in the east of the city centre, but the western zone, with its narrower roads and two crucial missing stretches of east-bound one-way streets, are a problem and will remain one until council exercises its rights to buy, by compulsion if need be, around three properties that will allow it to drive Nelson Mandela Avenue all the way through to Rotten Row.
Opening up Robert Mugabe Road to one-way traffic along its entire length through the city centre, and putting in a new trio of north-south one ways in the western half will help, but not solve the problem.
A lot more would be done if Jason Moyo and Nelson Mandela avenues were one-way right from Rotten Row through to Enterprise Road South.
We saw this during a storm last Friday night, at the same time we were preparing for publication of the story on the changes.
Traffic moving south along Sam Nujoma Street, the principal south bound artery, was blocked because west-bound traffic was blocked in Jason Moyo Avenue.
That was because four-west lanes turn to two near Rotten Row, limiting the number of cars that can be drained out the western exits.
Nelson Mandela Avenue’s function as the eastern drain is limited because at Fourth Street it too must change from four east-lanes to two. As we have argued before the council needs to do something useful on the land now occupied by the original polytech building and the bus terminus so that Jason Moyo can be swung alongside Robert Mugabe Road and connect up with Enterprise Road South. That would allow Nelson Mandela to be on-way to the same eastern border road.
With the changes to Nelson Mandela Avenue at its western end that would give the city what it so desperately needs, a good quality exit each end of the city to get cars out in the rush hour.
Perhaps the most important innovation proposed by the council is the long-desired establishment of close working relationships between the police, the city planners and Government planners through a permanent standing committee.
We have called for this many times. The three organisations, between them, have the expertise to come up with long term solutions as well as the palliatives now being considered.
One problem they need to address is the traffic light system, and not just those solar-powered lights at the intersection of Enterprise and Samora Machel that do not work in twilight. We think for a start the system needs to be reprogrammed to give priority to selected entrance routes in the morning and exit routes in the evening to get traffic in and out of the city centre faster.
We also note that when police constables direct traffic during light failures they tend to get more efficiency by allowing longer intervals between signal changes, and perhaps the city programmers could do the same with lights.
Switching every five cars means a lot of time is wasted as drivers just move from a standstill. A longer flow allows more cars to exit the intersection every second.
At the same time the council must look at a bypass along the south of the city centre to eliminate so many of the problems arising from the position of the railway line, especially on that corner where Seke Road, Julius Nyerere Way, Kenneth Kaunda Avenue and Charter Road all meet.
The new Airport highway includes a bridge over the railway line at the south end of Enterprise Road South.
As work has yet to start on that, surely the planning committee can look into what design changes could be made so that it can also feed a road connecting that new highway to Simon Mazorodze Road between the railway and the Mukuvisi River.
The railways may have to give up some land to accommodate that road, but could easily be compensated with better land elsewhere. As the owners of the “southern wall” to the city centre they can help to be the solution to the problems it causes.
Careful thought to improve traffic flows in the north, along Herbert Chitepo and Josiah Tongogara Avenues, could then create the ideal: a ban on through traffic through the city centre. A good set of bypasses, most of which are already there, plus good entrances and exits from the city centre will make the commercial hub of Zimbabwe’s capital a pleasure to visit, rather than the nightmare it has become.
The police can help by making drivers obey the law, especially that law that says you cannot enter an intersection unless certain you can exit it before the lights change to red.
Far too many drivers just race into a clogged intersection on the green light, making a bad situation far worse by blocking all lanes. They get nowhere faster and simply make life a total misery for those with an otherwise clear path as well as clogging the city centre even more.
In fact that sort of aggressive driving might well cause more clogging downstream, delaying even further the aggressive driver’s exit.
We hope the new committee will start soon and that the easy problems to solve will be solved quickly and plans for more permanent solutions made rapidly.