News / National
Plans to relocate tollgates at advanced stage
29 Nov 2023 at 00:04hrs | Views
THE Skyline Tollgate will soon be moved to the 36km peg along the Harare-Masvingo Road, moving it outside the present urban conglomeration, while the new Shamva tollgate which was last month moved from within the Harare urban built up area to Juru area, is now operational.
The developments come after Government recently announced that five tollgates on the outskirts of cities and towns were going to be moved further out to ease the financial burden on motorists living in peri-urban areas who had to pay road tolls twice daily on their way to and from work.
Plans were also afoot to upgrade existing tollgates on major highways to ensure they can cope rapidly and easily with the growing volumes of traffic and do not become a choke point.
The tollgates listed for relocation were Skyline, Dema, Lion's Den, Umguza and Shamva while those that are to be rehabilitated to standard levels are the Norton, Esigodini, Mushagashi, Mupfurudzi and Colleen Bawn tollgates.
When asked about the relocation of the Skyline tollgate on Monday by Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona, Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) board chairperson Dr George Manyaya said Zinara had enough money for the move.
On Monday, Government opened to traffic another 3km stretch along the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway just after the Skyline tollgate.
The opening of the road came after Minister Mhona and Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province Charles Tavengwa led a delegation on a tour of the rebuilt roads in Harare and Chitungwiza.
In an interview, Minister Mhona appealed to the people of Zimbabwe, especially the women and youths, to participate in road rehabilitation and infrastructural development so that they take advantage of the policy that, "Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo", the mantra that President Mnangagwa is running with.
"From Chitungwiza Road we moved to Harare-Beitbridge Road where we have opened 3km today (on Monday), passing through the tollgate and I would also like to deliver the message to the people of Zimbabwe that we are also going to relocate the tollgate.
"I have mandated Zinara together with the Department of Roads, so that we take advantage of what we have within our ministry, the CMED, so that we start working on a new tollgate at the new site".
Last month, the tollgate just outside Harare city limits between the 19,5km and 20,5km pegs along the Harare-Nyamapanda Road, was moved north to between the 40km and 41km pegs on the highway and now no longer interferes with traffic that is essentially intra-urban within the greater Harare area.
The relocation of the Shamva tollgate to Juru was gazetted in Statutory Instrument 217 of 2023 by Minister Mhona.
The relocation considered several issues including traffic patterns, road safety and the overall convenience of road users.
In a public notice giving more details, Zinara said the new site would be known as Juru tollgate and would use a temporary structure ahead of the installation of the planned toll plaza.
Zinara head of corporate communications and marketing Mrs Tsungie Manyeza said the decision to relocate the Shamva-turnoff tollgate to the Juru site was aligned with the organisation's quest to improve traffic movement at tollgates and was expected to have a positive impact in smooth traffic flow.
"Zinara assures road users that every effort has been made to ensure a seamless transition to the new site, and we remain committed to providing efficient and reliable services to the public," said Mrs Manyeza.
Recently, Minister Mhona confirmed that the tollgates were to be moved further and that Zinara was in the process of following the normal procedure for these developments.
"The main objective is to move these tollgates further out. When they were constructed, there were no communities that were nearby. But now more people have now constructed houses near them and hence there is a need to move them out further," he said.
Minister Mhona said many people were complaining about the location of the tollgates since they had to drive through them daily.
At the time, Zinara chief executive officer Mr Nkosinathi Ncube said Zinara would fund the reconstruction, rehabilitation and relocation of the tollgates.
The developments come after Government recently announced that five tollgates on the outskirts of cities and towns were going to be moved further out to ease the financial burden on motorists living in peri-urban areas who had to pay road tolls twice daily on their way to and from work.
Plans were also afoot to upgrade existing tollgates on major highways to ensure they can cope rapidly and easily with the growing volumes of traffic and do not become a choke point.
The tollgates listed for relocation were Skyline, Dema, Lion's Den, Umguza and Shamva while those that are to be rehabilitated to standard levels are the Norton, Esigodini, Mushagashi, Mupfurudzi and Colleen Bawn tollgates.
When asked about the relocation of the Skyline tollgate on Monday by Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona, Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) board chairperson Dr George Manyaya said Zinara had enough money for the move.
On Monday, Government opened to traffic another 3km stretch along the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway just after the Skyline tollgate.
The opening of the road came after Minister Mhona and Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province Charles Tavengwa led a delegation on a tour of the rebuilt roads in Harare and Chitungwiza.
In an interview, Minister Mhona appealed to the people of Zimbabwe, especially the women and youths, to participate in road rehabilitation and infrastructural development so that they take advantage of the policy that, "Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo", the mantra that President Mnangagwa is running with.
"From Chitungwiza Road we moved to Harare-Beitbridge Road where we have opened 3km today (on Monday), passing through the tollgate and I would also like to deliver the message to the people of Zimbabwe that we are also going to relocate the tollgate.
"I have mandated Zinara together with the Department of Roads, so that we take advantage of what we have within our ministry, the CMED, so that we start working on a new tollgate at the new site".
The relocation of the Shamva tollgate to Juru was gazetted in Statutory Instrument 217 of 2023 by Minister Mhona.
The relocation considered several issues including traffic patterns, road safety and the overall convenience of road users.
In a public notice giving more details, Zinara said the new site would be known as Juru tollgate and would use a temporary structure ahead of the installation of the planned toll plaza.
Zinara head of corporate communications and marketing Mrs Tsungie Manyeza said the decision to relocate the Shamva-turnoff tollgate to the Juru site was aligned with the organisation's quest to improve traffic movement at tollgates and was expected to have a positive impact in smooth traffic flow.
"Zinara assures road users that every effort has been made to ensure a seamless transition to the new site, and we remain committed to providing efficient and reliable services to the public," said Mrs Manyeza.
Recently, Minister Mhona confirmed that the tollgates were to be moved further and that Zinara was in the process of following the normal procedure for these developments.
"The main objective is to move these tollgates further out. When they were constructed, there were no communities that were nearby. But now more people have now constructed houses near them and hence there is a need to move them out further," he said.
Minister Mhona said many people were complaining about the location of the tollgates since they had to drive through them daily.
At the time, Zinara chief executive officer Mr Nkosinathi Ncube said Zinara would fund the reconstruction, rehabilitation and relocation of the tollgates.
Source - The Herald
