18 Jan 2017

It appears the much awaited multi-million Pula integrated traffic junction, known as Spaghetti locally and elsewhere, has been misunderstood by many.
Perhaps the false expectation can be summed up by an off the cuff comment by one pessimist Francistowner who simply said “Nnyaa mo ga se Spaghetti ke Macaroni hela.”

From the day it was announced that the Tonota-Francistown section of the A1 Road from Gaborone to Francistown would be developed into a dual-carriageway with a modern day “spaghetti junction, replacing the Thapama Lodge circle in Francistown,’ everyone fell in love.

The word ‘spaghetti’ soon became the buzzword in town, and as the project reached crescendo, all eyes were set to see what this concrete monster would eventually look like.

With people having their own visions and assumptions about the nature of the envisaged junction, the media went overboard with enthusiasm as they published pictures of some of the most sophisticated ‘spaghetti’ junctions of the world; thereby spawning the wildest of imaginations.

With all the possibilities offered by the Internet, many Google search actions showed results depicting state-of-the- art interchanges, some large enough to occupy a space the size of Gaborone’s old mall.

These modern-day wonder pieces of steel and concrete are usually found in developed countries, where volumes of traffic are unparalleled, let alone Francistown, Botswana’s second city.

Among the key objectives of the ‘spaghetti’ junction, according to the Department of Roads’ acting director, Ms Kgakgamatso Kalasi was that of boosting the local economy.

Speaking last year in March at a business community consultative forum at the Cresta Thapama Lodge, just a stone’s throw away from this potential tourist attraction site, Ms Kalasi said transportation was directly linked to economic development, as such, the interchange would be an advantage to businesses as it would ease traffic movement.

An improved transportation system augurs well for the northern city’s economic performance, particularly because its economy has for a while been heavily reliant on mining of copper and gold in its outskirts.

Ongoing construction works have brought traffic in the city to a snail’s pace, especially during peak hours, with taxi mongers ruing the day the ‘spaghetti’ was conceived as a traffic solution.

While they are too quick to conclude, without the completion of the interchange, it would be difficult for one to use the current traffic congestion as a yardstick of the effectiveness of the interchange.

Besides the interchange construction, there are many other road construction works around the city that cause so many traffic jams that many motorists have been left in anger and frustration.

Ms Kalasi further pointed out that the interchange would minimise traffic jams as less vehicles would spend time in traffic; thereby reducing emission of harmful fuel gases into the atmosphere.

At the moment, the vehicles are doing the opposite as very few roads lead into the Central Business District (CBD), where almost all activities, from business to government services are done.

The interchange is also hoped to improve the aesthetic view of the city, as Ms Kalasi said the structure would give the city a facelift and attract both local and international tourists, in the process generating income for the tourism sector.

She said the development would cater for pedestrian movements; hence promote their safety as they walk to various shopping malls in the city.

From a lay man’s view, the interchange is yet to appeal to their eye; hence the general dissatisfaction with the work being done, possibly due to their comparison of what they have seen online and in the newspaper photos.

The Francistown Interchange is not necessarily a complicated creation as the real spaghetti junctions would have it; the normal ones seen in newspaper articles and on online sites might have made many to feel just like the gentleman who wondered if this was really a spaghetti junction.

But being the first of its kind in the country, it surely will go a long way in dominating pass-time discussions around the commercial city and the complete structure will provide the right answer whether it is a ‘spaghetti’ or a ‘macaroni’.ENDS