With over 120,000 square metres of office space having come on stream in the past three years and a similar amount expected to be built in the next couple of years, at least two more hotels, in addition to Lansmore, are expected to be built in the CBD, which is already home to the High Court, the Industrial Court and new SADC Headquarters.Add this to the many restaurants, retail shops and in particular the massive shopping mall that is set to be built opposite the Gaborone Bus Terminal. With large vehicular and human traffic the CBD will be a hive of unprecedented activity and congestion.
Experts see the congestion situation being exacerbated by the absence of alternative access links into the business district.Currently vehicular traffic can only access the CBD from the western side with the other three sides closed.For a country that harbours ambitions of building a 21st Century CBD and brand Gaborone a Diamond City in the mould of Antwerp and Tel Aviv, a single entry to the core of business activity is certainly a recipe for disaster.
