Chirundu-Beitbridge Regional Road Corridor

Chirundu-Beitbridge Road Corridor is a Trans-African Highway Network Zimbabwean link between South Africa and Zambia. It is also part of the North–South Corridor Project and the Cape to Cairo Road.


Chirundu=Beitbridge Highway

The North-South Multimodal Transport Corridor is under the African Union PIDA. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) is an all-Africa program to develop a vision, policies and strategies for development of priority trans-regional and continental infrastructure, which includes transport; hence the rehabilitation of regional road corridors. The African Development Bank being the Executing Agency for the Programme.[1]

The local road corridor has two legs; the Chirundu-Harare and the Harare-Beitbridge Highways.[2][3][4] The road has been divided into sections described here as “Links” and the rehabilitation of the highway is being carried out in various “links” which would eventually see the whole route done. The links are numbered from North to South; from Chirundu border with Zambia to Beitbridge border with South Africa.

Chirundu-Harare

Background

The Chirundu-Harare Highway which is a regional road corridor is designated as the R3 Highway and the A1 Highway on Zimbabwe's Road Network. It runs generally in a south-easterly direction from Chirundu Border Post to Harare, a distance of 348 kilometres (216 mi). The Chirundu-Harare Highway is part of the Regional Trunk Road Network (RTRN Link Nr 22) as well as the Trans-African Highway Nr 9 (Beira-Lobito Highway).

On the Zambian side the highway continues north as T2 Highway, through Zambia's Capital City (Lusaka), to Tunduma, the border between Zambia and Tanzania.

Major local and regional trunk routes in Zimbabwe are fully paved and of modern design.[5] However most of them, including this one needs retouching.

Operations

The North-South Corridor Aid-for-Trade Programme’s specific objective is to contribute to the upgrading of the Chirundu-Harare Highway section of the North-South Corridor road network through rehabilitation of the highway. The Chirundu to Harare section of the Regional Trunk Road Network (RTRN Link Nr 22) has 4 road links to be rehabilitated.

Link 1 runs a distance of 75 kilometres (47 mi) from Chirundu Border Post to Hells Gate. This section covers the Zambezi Escapement area. It is mountainous and has a number of very steep passes. In this section of the road there is a turn-off (to the right or east) to Manna Pools and the Hurungwe Safari Area.[6]

At the end of this link is Makuti, an important waypoint for those travelling straight ahead and those turning right into P12 Highway to Kariba.


Link 2 runs a distance of 78 kilometres (48 mi) from Makuti to Karoi. Unlike Link 1, this section has moderate curves and slopes. Charara Safari area lies left (west) for about 25 kilometres (16 mi) stretch of this highway section from Makuti.[7]

Link 3 covers a distance of 94 kilometres (58 mi) from Karoi to Chinhoyi. This road runs south-easterly all the way to Chinhoyi. Travellers to Chegutu, through to Gweru can branch right in Chinhoyi into P13 Highway popularly known as the Chegutu-Chinhoyi Highway.[8]

Link 4 section covers 115 kilometres (71 mi) from Chinhoyi to Harare. Harare is the capital city of Zimbabwe. Here lap number 2 of the Chirundu-Beitbridge Highway begins; the R1 Highway popularly known as the Harare-Beitbridge Highway.[9]

Harare-Beitbridge Highway

The road runs in a southern direction from Harare to Beitbridge Border Post (between Zimbabwe and South Africa), covering a total distance of 571 km. The Harare-Beitbridge road is part of the Regional Trunk Road Network (RTRN Link Nr 25).

On the South African it joins the N1 Highway which runs the whole length of South Africa to Cape Town.[10]

Link 5 is after the capital city Harare, and it covers 141 kilometres (88 mi) to Chivhu. Here in Chivhu the R6 Highway branches right (east) to Nyazura.[11]

This section of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway covers 151 kilometres (94 mi) from Chivhu to Masvingo. About one third distance from Chivhu, the Gweru-Mvuma Highway braches right (west) on its approximately 83 kilometres (52 mi) to the Midlands capital city of Gweru linking this highway with R2 Highway to Bulawayo and Plumtree. In Masvingo the A9 Highway crosses from the left, (the Mutare via Birchenough Bridge end) to the right to Mashava, Zvishavane, Filabusi and Mbalabala.[12]

Link 7 covers a distance of 95 kilometres (59 mi) from Masvingo to Turn Off. This place called Turn Off is the turn-off to Chiredzi, and its where the P5 Highway popularly known as the Chiredzi-Tanganda Hifhway begins.[13]

This section covers 184 km from Turn Off to Beitbridge Border Post. Just less than halfway to Beitbridge lies Nuanetsi Game Ranch to the left, after Rutenga.[14]

Beitbridge is the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is the busiest of all in Southern Africa, both in commercial traffic and the movement of people. [15]

Stakeholders

External Links

• Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA

• Southern African Development Community SADC

• Zimbabwe National Road Administration ZINARA

• Development Bank of Southern Africa South Africa DBSA

See also

• Trans-African Highway Network

• North–South Corridor Project.

• R3/A1 Highway

• R1/A4 Highway

References
  1. Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) African Developmen12t Bank| Retrieved 1 April 2016
  2. Simon. Corridor News 7 July 2014 |Benefiting from the African Infrastructure Programme | Transport World Africa|Rehabilitation of the Serenge Nakonde Road will involve widening of the road, and its improvement will contribute to cost reduction for road transportation along the North- South and Dar es Salaam Corridors, as well as reduce accident losses for the transport of passengers and goods. Ultimately, it is expected to improve the competitiveness of business in the eight countries that share the North-South Corridor – Botswana, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Project completion is expected by 2017. Transport World Africa|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  3. North-South Corridor Africa's Main VeinThe North-South corridor provides two distinct road routes to Lusaka, Zambia, from South Africa. One goes through Zimbabwe; the other runs through Botswana. The Zimbabwe route is shorter by around 150 km, but is often slower, due to inefficiencies at the infamous Beitbridge border crossing, where delays with documentation frequently last two or more days Transport World Africa website|January 2016|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  4. 28 January 2016 starts Harare-Beitbridge road dualisationprocess| Transport minister Joram Gumbo says government is restarting the dualisation of the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu road and rehabilitation of the country's border posts. The minister said the move had been necessitated by the problems encountered on the Plumtree-Harare highway and other issues the State had overlooked, which led to the cancellation of an earlier tender. Harare24|News|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  5. Trade Point Project |Transport Facilities |ROAD MOTOR TRANSPORT (General) Major trunk routes linking Zimbabwe with neighbouring countries, as well as linking all the commercial centres internally, are fully paved and of modern design. ZimTrade|Transport Facilities|Retrieved 2 April 2016
  6. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 Link 1 Chirundu-Makuti PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.01 Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre| Retrieved 1 April 2016
  7. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 Chirundu - Harare Road Link 2 (Makuti to Karoi) PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.02 Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  8. Chirundu - Harare Road Link 3 (Karoi to Chinhoyi) Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  9. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014| Link 4 (Chinhoyi-Harare) PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.04 Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  10. Roads Route Details Concargo|Retrieved 2 April 2016
  11. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 Harare - Beitbridge Road Link 1 (Harare to Chivhu) PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.05 Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  12. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 Link 5 (2) Chivhu-Masvingo PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.06 Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  13. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 off |Link 7 (3) Masvingo-Turn Off: PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.07 Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016
  14. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 Harare - Beitbridge Road Link 4 (Turn Off to Beitbridge Border Post) PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.08 Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre | Retrieved 1 April 2016
  15. Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 Beitbridge OSBP Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016

ref>Dr. Mekuria Beyene. 22 September 2014 Chirundu - Harare Road Link 2 (Makuti to Karoi) PIDA Code: T.06.03.03.02 Virtual PIDA Information Centre|Retrieved 1 April 2016

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