Suburban
HARARE North residents have raised concerns over the wayward driving and menace being witnessed along Liberation Legacy Way (formerly Borrowdale Road) close to Helensvale shopping centre where the Borrowdale Police Station is located and at the traffic lights on its intersection with Whitwell Road.
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
Residents say their concern is that from where the dual carriageway ends, a traffic bottle neck has been created from that point during peak hours and this has introduced a new wild culture of driving endangering the lives of other road users as well as causing extensive damage to road infrastructure.
The Borrowdale Ratepayers and Residents Association (BRRA) has called on the authorities including the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to look into the issue and address the dangerous driving as motorists are becoming more impatient by the day and are now driving in the face of oncoming traffic forcing other vehicles off the road.
“This is an act of road bullying which has potential to cause head on collisions that we will later regret. The vehicles forced off the road especially those with low clearance are damaged as they avoid the approaching vehicle and pushed to an uneven road verge. There is no respect for road curbs or traffic lights. Road rules are literally suspended on this once serene and orderly road. This situation is not receiving the attention it deserves from the local police needless to say that some of the traffic offences are committed right at the police station.
Residents appeal to the Zimbabwe Republic Police to give this matter priority before major disasters occur. The intersection with Harare Drive has sad memories of serious accidents that have occurred and claimed the lives of many.
We do not want to go through this experience now or at any other time. The existing anarchy on this road is pointing us towards many such disasters in the near future should the situation not be curbed immediately,” said the BRRA chairperson Mr Robert Mutyasira.
He commended the young people who usually take their time and direct traffic on the problematic stretches of Liberation Legacy Way. He, however, said this must be done by trained professional personnel who have the power to stop errand drivers.
“It is sad to see that some of these intersections are being manned by inexperienced young men who direct traffic and also expect donations from motorists. Their work must be appreciated as it does create some form of order but the exercise should be conducted by those trained and mandated for it. We had begun to see members of the Borrowdale Crime Consultative Committee coming out in their bibs and jackets to assist with traffic controlling but we no longer see them. Errant drivers should be stopped, their vehicles impounded and charged heavily before they can retrieve their vehicles,” said Mr Mutyasira.
He added that road verges are deepening as other motorists overtake from the left, and this is evident on the stretch between Helensvale and Liberation Legacy Way intersection with Harare Drive. According to the BRRA official, the disintegration of the road between those two points is disheartening and further extending beyond the traffic lights towards Sam Levy’s Village. The BRRA has called on the authorities to expedite the plans to dualise this part of the road while alternative routes such as Alpes Road and Teviotdale Road are made more user friendly for Hatcliffe residents. The residents’ body suggested that residents of Borrowdale, Greystone Park, Helensvale, Hogerty Hill and other areas in Ward 18 could use inner roads to and from their homes to avoid Liberation Legacy Way but the poor condition of those roads is not encouraging at all hence they always avoid using them.
The BRRA further said a lot of thought has to be applied into ways of permanently dealing with the worrying congestion and they are hoping that something will be done with no further delays.
