By Keith Mawoyo
The Harare City council has re-opened several roads in the Harare’s central business district, which had been closed due to the construction of a footbridge.
The footbridge which also bears the iconic Mbuya Nehanda statue is Zimbabwe’s latest tourist attraction, which also serves as a historical monument for the country.
Although the construction of the monument is a more than welcome development, traffic jams and congestion was becoming the order of the day as motorists struggled to drive to and fro amid closed and barricaded roads.
The section of Samora Machel avenue between its intersection with Leopold Takawira and Julius Nyerere which is one of the busiest roads was closed due to the construction process.
With the completion of the project the city council has restored the one way street status of Leopold Takawira Street between Samora Machel and Kwame Nkrumah avenues.
Earlier, Acting Harare Town Clerk Engineer Mangena Moyo announced the re-opening of the roads for the convenience of the motoring public.
Engineer Moyo however encouraged motorists to continue exercising extreme caution as there may be some minor works to finish off construction.
Motorists expressed their joy with some praising the government for its continued infrastructure development initiatives.
One motorist Janet Murinda said “It had become a nightmare just to drive in the CBD, at times I would park my car and actually walk for my errands, I’m glad we are back to normal.”
“The closed roads, together with the covid 19 curfew was so difficult to deal with. Imagine every motorist trying to rush out of the CBD to beat the curfew, while at the same time dealing with congestion.” Said Sean Mutomba another motorist.
The government under its National development strategy one which will run from 2021 to 2025 will among other things focus on infrastructure development. This initiative has seen the expansion of the Robert Mugabe international airport, major roadworks around the country and the envisaged mbudzi roundabout, among others.
