Nyerere Drive upgrade begins

| Thursday September 18, 2008 00:00

The GCC, which has been criticised for its lacklustre approach to the maintenance of roads, plans renovation of the city's busiest roads, Nyerere Drive and North Ring Road.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony performed recently by Local Government Minister, Margaret Nasha, and Gaborone Central Member of Parliament (MP), Dumelang Saleshando, the city engineering chiefs said they have felt the need to upgrade the roads because of the ever increasing traffic volumes, especially during peak hours.

According to Mark Skelton, general manager of SSI Botswana (Pty), the works contract was awarded to D & S Machinery and Plant Hire at their tendered price of approximately P86.8 million in May this year.

The general scope of the works for the two road projects include construction of storm-water drainage, street lighting, traffic lights and signal installations. It is expected that the project will be completed by September next year.

Nyerere Drive will be done first, followed by North Ring Road.

The two roads link the heart of the city to the government enclave, residences, commercial premises, schools and the Princess Marina Hospital.

'Key aspects of such work involve relocation of electricity, water, telephone and sewage services so we ask the stakeholders, the citizen of Gaborone, to be patient if they are inconvenienced by the works which are to be done in a relatively short construction period,' said Skelton.

Nyerere Drive is 1.7 km long and it will be upgraded to a dual carriageway with lanes of 7.3 m (2x 3.65m). There is also a provision of a 3.2m wide pedestrian and cycle path on each side of the road. The street lights will follow.

'There is provision for traffic signals at the following junctions: Okavango Sobhuza, Nche and Mabuto. On the other hand, North Ring Road is a 1.5 single carriageway with double lanes, a total of 5.5m in both directions. There is also provision for a 3.2m wide pedestrian and cycle path on each side of the road.

A signalled pedestrian crossing is also to be provided near the hospital. Street lighting will be provided on both sides of the road and storm water drains will be covered.

 In this case, there is provision for traffic signals at the following junctions: Sobhuza, Independence, and a pedestrian crossing at Princess Marina Hospital.

The design of the project was done in 2001 by SSI Botswana (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of a Dutch company DHV.

'The design had been carried out some six years previously and needed to be reviewed for prevailing conditions and updated'. This consultancy contract was awarded to SSI Botswana (Pty) Ltd in association with NMA Consulting in 2007.

The firms reviewed the design and prepared tender documents for construction, which were advertised in the Government Gazette on October 12 last year and tenders closed on December 13.

The works contract was awarded to Excavator Hire at their tendered price of P86.8 million.

Minister Nasha exhorted the people tasked with the work to do it within schedule and warned them against taking the residents for granted by keeping them in the lurch for longer than expected.
(Sila Press Agency)