Suburban
Road works have started on Coronation Avenue in Greendale under a partnership between Government and the City of Harare to repair the badly damaged major roads in the suburb.
Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter
Acting Mayor for Harare and Ward 9 Councillor Musarurwa Mutizwa said the roads works are being carried out under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2). The programme has already seen the completion of the construction of Pangula Road (also known as the Chikurubi Access Road), another major road in Ward 9.
“We have already started clearing road verges and drainages.
“After that, we will then seal potholes then we will do overlays from Mutare Road to Court Road,” he said.
Coronation Avenue is one of the main roads into Greendale which had developed potholes over the years.
Cllr Mutizwa said road repairs on Wilson Road and Greengrove Drive will be carried out under Phase 3 of the roads programme which is expected to take place in nine weeks’ time.
He said Wilson Road will undergo reconstruction.
Cllr Mutizwa in a recent interview with Suburban on the state of his ward and the city said council in partnership with Government will repair major roads in Ward 9 and other wards in the rest of the city.
He said reconstruction and sealing of potholes will take place in order to ensure that roads are passable before the rainy season.
Government has since intervened to help councils repair roads under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP), which is already underway and will continue into next year.
The State funding will see potholes being patched on major roads, improving major intersections such as the Lomagundi (Nemakonde) and Harare Drive, filter lanes added to Solomon Mujuru (formerly Kirkman Road) and improve the Harare Drive/Mutare Road traffic circle through adding filter lanes.
Filter lanes are also expected to be added to the Westgate roundabout on Lomagundi Road while Solomon Mujuru will also be widened in Mabelreign as well as Alpes Road in Borrowdale.
Traffic lights will be installed on Harare Drive and Acturus Roads, Enterprise and Ridgeway South and Mutare and Donnybrook Roads.
The money that had been allocated for the Harare Drive and Gaydon Road intersection will be allocated to other roads. The money had been allocated for traffic lights but residents and council have since built a traffic circle.
The refurbished Pangula Road (Chikurubi Access Road) in Ward 9.
Cllr Mutizwa recently told journalists that council had been allocated RTGS$400m for road rehabilitation under devolution funds.
He said the city had so far received RTGS$46m of the money to be shared with Chitungwiza Municipality, Ruwa and Epworth Local Boards with Harare getting the biggest chunk.
Council recently started patching potholes on some roads in the city which include Solomon Mujuru Drive, Mutare Road (Msasa area), Samora Machel Avenue, Robert Mugabe Road, the stretch of Bulawayo Road close to the National Heroes Acre and Glenara Avenue. Boshof Drive in Sunningdale has also since been repaired under the programme.
Residents from Harare’s eastern suburbs recently expressed concern over huge potholes on Harare Drive between Drew Road and ED Mnangagwa Road (formerly Enterprise Road) intersection.
One of the concerned residents from Highlands expressed disgust over the increasing number of potholes while the existing ones were deepening making driving on that stretch of the road cumbersome.
The residents blamed council for putting road users at risk of accidents by its failure to maintain roads.
“The potholes on the stretch of Harare Drive are very deep and in both lanes. Unsuspecting lorries driving at night (illegally) are almost crashing into the wall of the house on the left at the bottom of the incline after passing Enterprise Road. The occupants of this property have said that there is a serious accident waiting to happen.
“I visited Highlands council offices and spoke to someone at the Department of Works who promised to fix the problem. Another load of a mixture of bricks/sand was duly delivered. The condition of the road is now worse.
‘‘A further appeal was made directly to the Director of Works, promises were made and nothing was delivered,” said the resident.
