Bulawayo City Council maintenance of road network

Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is conducting various road maintenance programs in an effort to make the city's roads passable for both vehicular and pedestrial users. The city's aged road network is in need of overhaul and rehabilitation as most of the city's roads have outlived their lifespan.

During the first quarter of the year, on going maintenance was conducted on various roads and as at mid February 2011, regrading and regravelling of the following roads had been done :Khami Prison Road -1200m of road was re- graded, Intemba Road - 240m regravelled, Nkulumane 4 - regraded 2 800m and Nkulumane 12 regraded 430m. In Lobengula West, 60m of Amnyama Street was regravelled.

A total of 3 493m of storm water drains were cleared in the high density areas of the city. Stream and canal cleaning was carried out next to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), while stream cleaning was in progress on the Njube and Nketa 9 streams. 69m of stone pitching was done in Luveve 4 and residents purchased cement for stone pitching in front of their properties.

Pavement repairs were carried out on George Silundika and 13th Avenue, while median cleaning was carried out on Khami Road and covered 2.1 km. 728 tonnes of premix for pothole patching from the Kelvin Batching Plant were used from January to April. Works concentrated in the following areas: Central Business District, public transport routes, Kelvin Industrial area, and environs of the ZITF.

In addition, Council also used 50 tonnes of modified tar on the following roads: Luveve Road, Lobengula Street, Robert Mugabe Way, Ascot Way, Birkenhead Road, Glenville Drive, Cecil Avenue and 5lh Avenue in the CBD. On some roads, gravel patching was undertaken as a temporary measure.

Another 50 tonnes of premix was used by the community in the following areas Woodville Park Road, Whitestone Way, Lourie Road, Chelmsford Road, Kabalanto Rd, Muzomuhle Road, Ward 22, Ward 12 and Killarney. Council provided transport and the contractor provided expertise on the use of the product. Work had also been carried out on Luveve Cemetry Road with 700m of the road regraded.

In addition, Delta Beverages agreed to assist Council fund the total rehabilitation of Leamington Road in Belmont at a cost $112 829.94,in addition to the $25 680 50 which they paid for the purchase of materials. The work involved the reconstruction of sections that had collapsed, applying a 19mm tack on the reconstructed sections and laying a 20-40mm premix. So far the reconstruction is complete, the tack is 80% complete and laying of premix is at 70%. Road line marking works concentrated in the Central Business District and Hillside Road where lane lines and kerbing were done.

A total of 119 traffic poles were painted in the Central Business District and a total area of 2 243,9 square metres was covered with road line paint, while white paint covered 1 828,36 square metres and yellow paint covered 415,9 square metres. 20 'ONLY', 14 'GIVE WAY', 1 'NO ENTRY' and 113 'ARROW' paintings were done Road line paint supplies were delayed, resulting in focus being shifted to painting of kerbs and traffic light poles. It must be noted that the procurement of paint is not regular due to the unavailability of funds.

The Roads Section still requires much more road line marking paint for the entire network and an extra vehicle to ease the work load since the Section has only one vehicle. Traffic and street name signs continue to be vandalized and a total of 673 signs were replaced during February in several wards of the city.

The City has been trying to maintain its roads in a bid to ensure that they meet international standards

Five speed humps were erected, three at Emganwini and two at Thokozani Flats in Mzilikazi, and one NO U TURN sign in Herbert Chitepo. Efforts are underway to improvise poles and have more signs erected.