The headache of waking up every morning pondering how to beat the traffic jam in Harare has become a common burden for drivers — unless one wakes up before dawn and drives to work when the roads are virtually empty.
Jairos Saunyama Own Correspondent
Motorists from places that include Chitungwiza, Ruwa and Borrowdale will testify on how they are forced to spend hours for a trip into town that should otherwise take much less.
Some drivers have been forced, where possible, to adjust their daily programmes in order to cover for the long time they have to spend on otherwise impassable roads.
“I knock off at 4pm, but nowadays I leave earlier so that I won’t get stuck on the road,” said one motorist, Richard Zame.
“You can’t spend hours on the road after a tiring day, so it’s better for me to knock off earlier than I used to.”
Simon Mangwiro, a timber company owner, said the traffic jam was affecting his business.
“I lose a lot of money each day. Each morning, only a few workers make it on time. The rest will come after two hours while some, who live as far as Domboshava, leave early, citing traffic congestion problems. There is need to control this situation because if not countered, it will be a big problem,” he said.
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In the past, traffic congestion was often a result of malfunctioning traffic lights, which forced drivers to crawl in and out of the city, but the influx of second-hand vehicles from Japan has worsened the situation.
In an effort to side-step the problem, the council has introduced one-ways in town, but observers contend that it is only a stop-gap measure and there is need for a long-term solution.
A Harare civil engineer, Moffat Mawoyo, said Zimbabwe needed to learn from other countries which had succeeded in dealing with congestion.
“This is a serious issue and Zimbabwe needs to learn from other countries which experienced and conquered the problem. We might turn all the roads into one ways, but if not done properly, it won’t help anything,” he said.
“For example in Maputo, Mozambique, they have a coastline and are free to import cheap ex-Japanese vehicles, but the way the authorities, particularly the town planners decided to manage traffic in that city’s central business district (CBD) is commendable.
“In Maputo, almost all major roads have been converted to one ways with some roads having four lanes flowing in the same direction.”
While it may seem like a disadvantage to motorists who have to drive round a block because they would be near yet so far, he said, the way it eased congestion superseded the inconveniences at times posed by one-way traffic lanes.
The recent, but slow move by Harare City Council to increase the number of one-way streets is commendable since Harare had an upsurge of vehicular traffic, he added.
Mawoyo bemoaned the dearth of public transport system in the country which he said was fuelling congestion.
He said Ghana overcame the problem after its government invested in public transport system.
According to South African engineer Carl Mahlangu, who was on a private visit in the country last week, other measures besides dualisation need to be put in place for decongestion to be effective.
“This is a serious situation and I strongly suggest that local authorities do something other than widening of roads.
“The thing is, most Zimbabweans can now afford to buy a vehicle and this will trigger more congestion.
“Measures to reduce congestion in every way must be put across, for example investing in railway systems and increase in parking fees among many others,” he said.
The Local Government ministry has blamed commuter omnibus operators, but their removal from the CBD has not eased the congestion problem on the roads.
Recently, Ghana experienced massive traffic congestion which would see a motorist making it through to the CBD in Accra at midday.
Gilbert Mhike, another local engineer, said: “Engineers must continue to design roads with bicycle lanes as done in the developed world, for example China, in order to encourage people to resort to the use of bicycle.”
The country’s railway system is very poor and it seems to deteriorate every day.
Gone are the days when people used to board the train from high density suburbs like Budiriro, Mufakose and Kambuzuma into town.
South Africa recently introduced the Gautrain which moves faster than cars which led workers to abandon their cars for the new mode of transport.
Previously, it took more than two hours for one to drive from Johannesburg to Pretoria during peak hours, but the introduction of the Gautrain has reduced the journey to a matter of a few minutes.
