Harare-Chirundu Road upgrade completion moved back...

Harare-Chirundu Road upgrade completion moved back two years back

Harare-Chirundu Highway Now A Death Trap - Zimbabwe Situation

Zim Now Writer

Haulage truck drivers and other road users will have to endure terrible conditions until 2027, tow ywhen the Harare-Chirundu highway is expected to be fully upgraded.

“…you may be concerned about the state of the road, but I can assure you that we have an ongoing rehabilitation project to the standards and we have set a deadline of 2027 towards its upgrading,” said Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Marian Chombo while addressing a COMESA delegation.

This is depressing news after the hype created around an imminent upgrade earlier this year.

The Harare Chirundu highway is now one of the worst major arteries after the Harare Beitbridge has mostly been upgraded.

The part leading towards Makuti is the worst with vehicles being forced to move at a crawl to avoid craters on the road and sharp edges.

In February government announced that upgrading of the 352-kilometre stretch at a cost of US$550 million had started with Masimba, Tensor, Exodus, Fossil and Bitumen contracted for the work.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Felix Mhona at the time said that the project would be completed in 2025.

Two of the five contractors moved in to open detours in preparation for main road closures. But then work just stopped with some of the detours now reverting to bush.

The Government which has embarked on massive road works under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Fund. While much progress has been made especially on the Harare-Beitbridge highway, some deadlines have been missed.

Notable is that of the Mbudzi Interchange whose completion date has been pushed forward a couple of times with no clear end in sight.