04 Dec 2014

A section of Tonota-Francistown Road, currently under construction, will be closed for five months between January 12 and May next year, an environmental consultant with Earthtec Consultancy, Dr Ebenezer Archer has said. 

Addressing a stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, December 3 at Cresta Thapama Hotel in Francistown, Dr Archer said the section to be closed is from the BMC Circle up to the Marimavu Junction, commonly known as Bokowe Traffic Lights. 

He said the closure was expected in November but due to consultation with the business community, who anticipated festive business peak, the closure was postponed to January 2015.

He said it was obvious that the closure will negatively affect businesses along the road, such as The Nest and Wingate lodges, as well as car dealers; as such he implored the owners to intensify their marketing strategies to offset the anticipated effects.

The environmentalist said detours had been tarred to avoid air pollution, and that liaison with the local traffic police had been done for assistance at the four areas expected to have traffic congestion during peak hours.The Department of Roads North East Chief Roads Engineer, Mr Letlhogela Radipata said the construction of the Tonota-Francistown dual carriageway began on October 17, 2012 and was expected to be completed by October 17 next year at a cost of close to P1 billion.

Mr Radipata said so far works on the construction of Shashe, Tholodi and Bodumatau bridges had been completed, and that the extension of the Tati River Brigdge was at an advanced stage, while permanent road works from Tonota all the way to the BMC Circle were nearing completion.

Furthermore, Mr Radipata said the construction of the road was currently at 63 per cent against 67.5 per cent; he attributed the delay to the relocation of some services and last year’s heavy rains.

He said already, 43 households and five commercial plots had been relocated and P25 million was used for compensation. He however, said negotiations were still on-going with one commercial plot owner.

He said according to traffic analysis, the section of the existing road between Tonota and BMC Circle would reach capacity within a time frame of 2015 to 2023.

The section between BMC and Cresta Thapama had already reached its capacity; a factor that he said usually leads to traffic congestion, especially during peak hours.

The roads engineer assured stakeholders that, although there were some concerns regarding the cracking of nearby buildings and houses due to the construction, photographic records were taken before the construction along the road and within 200 metre radius and photographs will also be taken after the construction to compare.

In his comments, the Botswana Confederation of Commerce and Industry (BOCCIM) Regional Manager, Mr Kebaabetswe Bogatsu implored the Department of Roads to consider putting signage for the businesses that will be affected by the construction to minimise losses.

He also suggested mitigation factors to encourage drivers to slow down, especially where detours go through residential areas.

Mr Radipata explained that detours would be kept open even after the completion of the road in order to ease congestion along the new road.

He said his department would consider having one big signboard showing the direction of all the businesses that will be affected by the construction of the road.

For his part, Botswana Police Superintendent Alison Mbaiwa explained that traffic police would be available at the BMC Circle, Somerset diversion road, Domboshaba junction, at Kia Motors, and Gerald Estate Junction during peak hours.

He further said the police would be assisting during public holidays and weekends between 1000hrs and 1300hrs.  ENDS