The price of dishonesty

Mmegi Editor | Thursday August 10, 2017 11:29

Going into the city in the morning, and leaving in the evening is nothing less than a nightmare. Driving during the day is not pleasant either.  People leave their workplace early in a bid to beat traffic, whilst others arrive late because of the problem.

All this is because we did not plan our major intersections and this poor planning is haunting us. When the Molapo Crossing mall intersection, where Molepolole road meets the Western bypass, was being built there were calls for construction of a double decker intersection to allow traffic from either side to flow unhindered. Such calls were ignored.

Just less than 10 years after this project was completed, it has proven to be a big challenge that should be addressed urgently. This is the place where horrific crashes have occurred in the last five years in which lives were lost. Another biggest challenge, 10 kilometres north is the Sebele-Airport junction, where the Western bypass meets the Airport road. This intersection is a big headache that also needs double decker intersection.

The Phakalane-A1 intersection still poses a big challenge despite the recent opening of an alternative road between Phakalane and Gaborone.  At Bull & Bush, where Willie Seboni road meets Nelson Mandela highway, one has to be prepared to lose their valuable time because of congestion throughout the day. We are aware of the proposed plan to phase out traffic roundabouts along the Western bypass, but are not privy to what will be put in place.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications ought to appreciate the inconvenience caused by poor intersections and come up with modern solutions that will serve the nation for the next three decades or more.  We hope the phasing out project will be fast-tracked looking at the volume of import cars that arrive in the country on a daily basis.

The construction of Boatle-Gaborone road has commenced and is expected to be completed in the first half of next year. We hope that the road will be provided with better intersections at Boatle and near Game City where traffic congestion is always a challenge.

Meanwhile, the ministry should speed up the construction of Gabane-Mogoditshane road, which is a death trap for its users. We need to go on benchmarking missions abroad to appreciate how some countries manage traffic congestion in urban centres.  We also need to plan ahead. We build schools and hospitals that are advanced and have capacity to provide good service even five decades from today. Why can’t we do the same with our roads?

The rate at which second hand vehicles arrive in our country should signal to the authorities that there is need for a paradigm shift. We must have modern roads to have people arriving at work and meetings on time.

 

Today’s thought 

“You and I come by road or rail, but economists travel on infrastructure.” 

– Margaret Thatcher