Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway

Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway or the R847 Highway is an all-weather bitumen macadam highway in Zimbabwe running from Kwekwe to Gokwe passing through Zhombe.

It is 141 kilometres (88 mi) from Kwekwe to Gokwe but the highway which branches off from the A5 (Harare-Bulawayo Highway) is 137 kilometres (85 mi), a 1-hour-50-minute drive on average.[1][2]

Management

The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA), a government department under the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development, oversees the highway.[3]

Background

As shown in the 1973 Automobile Association roads network, the Kwekwe–Gokwe road (then Que Que–Gokwe road) was a gravel one for about 99% of its present length. Only 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) of the old Gokwe road was tarred from Kwekwe.[4]

Reconstruction

The former gravel road was paved wide and tarred from 31 January 1986[5] to 31 March 1991.[6]

Operations

The original plan was to construct a 7-metre-wide (23 ft) carriageway with two 1.5-metre (4.9 ft) shoulders. The road is however 6 metres (20 ft) with 2 0.5-metre (1.6 ft) shoulders constructed according to the revised plan of 1986.[7]

Bridges

From Kwekwe to Gokwe the road passes over various rivers with standard bridges. The rivers are Kwekwe River, Rhino River, Chimwamombe River, Sesombe River, Mandombe River, Somalala River, Ngazimbi River, Zhombe River, Gwenzi River, Sehozana River, Little Sehozana River, Ufafi River and the Ngondoma River. There are no sizable rivers on the Gokwe side across the highway until after the town.[8]

Feeder roads

Somalala–Sidakeni Road

Somalala–Sidakeni Road, popularly known as Zhombe East Road, is a 46 km long gravel road connecting Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway and the Kadoma-Gokwe-via-Empress Road. It branches right from the Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway at just past the 50 km peg from Kwekwe.

Zhombe East Road feeds Donjane, Bhamala, Totororo, and Sidakeni.

There is a District Development Fund roads division deport at Mushangi Business Center in Donjane giving this road first preference on development.

It has one bridge across Zhombe River near the 25 km peg heading north.

Zhombe River bridge in Zhombe east. Camera from the east

Zhombe-Sidakeni Road

Zhombe-Sidakeni Road branches right from the Kwekwe-Gokwe Road at southern outskirts of Zhombe Joel District Service Center. It is sometimes called Senkwasi Road.

It is 33 km to the Kadoma-Gokwe-via-Empress Road. It feeds Gwesela West, Empress Mine, Sidakeni and Mabura.

Some sections of the road in Manzamunyama and Navata are very slippery during rainy seasons.

Chemagora-Sidakeni Road

This is the Midlands section of what is popularly known as Kadoma-Gokwe-via-Empress Road or the Venice-Chemagora Road. It is a 9-foot tarred road and it is the oldest tarred road in Kwekwe District north.

It branches off to the right from Kwekwe-Gokwe Road just past the 73 km and goes past Sidakeni and cross the Munyati River to join the Harare-Bulawayo Highway (A5) at 22 km from Kadoma.

This is the shortest route for traffic from Harare to Gokwe. From the Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway the road feeds Gokwe-East, Mabura, Empress Mine and Sidakeni.

Masoro Road

Masoro Road or Hovano-Chinyudze Road is a 54 km (1-hour 5 min drive) gravel loop road that joins Kwekwe-Gokwe Road and Kadoma-Gokwe-via-Empress Road. It turns right from the Kwekwe-Gokwe Road just short of the 120 km peg from Kwekwe. It is the Old Kadoma-Gokwe Road.

It is not a safe road for vehicles in poor condition. The road descends from the Mapfungautsi Plateau on a very steep pass. It feeds Masoro, Tongwe, Mazalayedwa, Gwanika and Maliyami.

It joins the Chemagora-Sidakeni at Masoro Turnoff populary known as Chinyudze, about 5 km west of Columbina Township.

Connectivity

The road connects Zhombe and Gokwe South areas to all parts of the country via its Kwekwe end.[9] It serves Zhombe Communal Land, Chemagora purchase area, Gokwe, Nemangwe, Mutimutema and Sengwa coal mines.

Economic viability

There has been improved economic and business growth in areas served by the road over the years.[10] Both Zhombe Joel and Gokwe have experienced economic growth because of the impact of the feeder road.

Road traffic statistics

Although there is no railway line to Gokwe the road network courtesy of the main R847 Kwekwe-Gokwe has proved excellence. Road vehicles of all kinds and sizes is increasing just as in bigger towns and cities.

According to the project performance evaluation report of the Zimbabwe Rural Roads Project number 1, the flow of vehicles of all sizes in 1984 had an average of 131 per day. In 1991 when the tarred road was opened the flow of such vehicles rose to 212 with a marked increase of heavy vehicles and buses. By 2011 the flow of vehicles was as high as 660 per day, with heavy goods vehicles topping the least at an average of 321 per day.

Unlike other Zimbabwean highways the R847 has no toll gates but the flow of vehicles on the road per day has since doubled the 2011 averages according to statistics elsewhere on major highways. In past years the annual average daily traffic was done by traffic recording devices or by human observers who visually had to count and record traffic on tally sheets. However at the fall of the Zimbabwean dollar the manned system was dropped only to come up later in the form of the toll gates system which count vehicles by weight and generate revenue at the same time. The Kwekwe–Gokwe Highway is yet to have a toll gate.

The increase of heavy vehicles spells the growth of business in Gokwe, Zhombe and other centers in the north-eastern parts of Matabeleland North Province.

Beneficiaries

Settlements

The chief beneficiary of the R847 is Gokwe which has become the newest town in Zimbabwe credit to the Kwekwe–Gokwe Highway.[11]

Zhombe Joel, CMB Nemangwe and Kabuyuni-Chitekete growth points have also grown to suburban standards.

Empress Mine and Columbina Township though in link roads are beneficiaries too.

Vehicle operators

Road traffic users and vehicle owners have also benefitted from the R847 bitumen highway in terms of vehicle operating cost savings.

According to the project performance evaluation report of the Zimbabwe Rural Roads Project number 1, in 1984 the total savings on "vehicle operating costs"[12] for all sizes of vehicles that used the Kwekwe-Gokwe Road was $4,084,244 for 212 vehicles; an average of about $19,265 per vehicle. As per this same cost benefit analysis in 2010, nine years after the opening of the Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway, overall vehicle operating costs for 660 vehicles was $11,384,880; an average of $17,250 per vehicle, a reduction of about $2,000 per vehicle.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Info 141 Km - Distance from kwekwe to Gokwe via Zhombe Distances from.com|Distance calculator|Retrieved 6 February 2016
  2. ↑ Map info Kwekwe Gokwe road map, Retrieved 6 February 2016
  3. ↑ Zinara Info |18 October 2012 Road Act: WHO IS ZINARA AND WHAT DOES IT DO? The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) is a body corporate established in terms of the Roads Act (Chapter13:18). ZINARA has prioritised the enhancement of a good road network system throughout the country. ZINARA |Articles | Retrieved 6 February 2016
  4. ↑ Rhodesian Maps | 1945 AA Road Map of Rhodesia1975 Archive of Rhodesia | AA Road Map of Rhodesia 1975 | Retrieved 6 February 2016
  5. ↑ African Development Back Group |16 August 1999 Page 4: Summary Data Sheet. Paragraph= B, Topic= Project Data, Item= #8: Commencement of work _31 January 1986. AFDB ] Operation Evaluation Department|Retrieved 6 February 2016
  6. ↑ African Development Back Group |16 August 1999 Page 4: Summary Data Sheet. Paragraph= B, Topic= Project Data, Item= #9: Completion of work _31 January 1986. AFDB | Operation Evaluation Department|Retrieved 6 February 2016
  7. ↑ African Development Back Group |16 August 1999 Page 14 Section 3.2: Changes in Project design; Subsection 3.2.2: R847 Kwekwe-Gokwe AFDB | Operation Evaluation Department|Retrieved 6 February 2016
  8. ↑ | See the rivers on the AA Road Map of 1975 |
  9. ↑ African Development Back Group |16 August 1999 Page 11 Section 2.6: Project Objectives and Scope at Appraisal; Subsection 2.6.2: The Kwekwe-Gokwe road has provided improved access and connection with the national network with the western part of the Midlands province which was isolated for many years Operation Evaluation Department|Retrieved 6 February 2016
  10. ↑ African Development Back Group |16 August 1999 Page 20. Section 4.4: Institutional and social performance; Subsection 4.4.16: The Kwekwe-Gokwe road witnessed a remarkable traffic growth with rates higher than 7% AFDB | Operation Evaluation Department|Retrieved 6 February 2016
  11. ↑ Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe Gokwe Town Council Profile - HISTORY: Gokwe is relatively a new town which was established by statutory Instrument 170 of the 2006 proclamation 6 of 2006. The town evolved out of Gokwe South Rural District Council. Because of its rapid developmental rate it is one of the few urban settlements in Zimbabwe which graduated to a town direct from a Growth Point. Most urban centres have grown from a rural service centre to a local board, the lowest on the hierarchy of urban councils. www.ucaz.org |Member Profiles |Retrieved 6 February 2016
  12. ↑ Vehicle cost savings Transportation Benefit-Cost Analysis: (Changes in the costs of owning and operating vehicles "trucks as well as cars" resulting from a transportation improvement project are counted as benefits or disbenefits. EXAMPLES: Roadway capacity expansion reduces congestion delay which reduces fuel costs. Pothole repairs and street resurfacing reduces vehicle wear.) Benefit-Cost Analysis |Benefits |Retrieved 6 February 2016
  13. ↑ African Development Back Group |16 August 1999 Annex 10 page 1 of 4. Table: Savings in V.O.C. R847 Kwekwe-Gokwe (132km) Operation Evaluation Department|Retrieved 6 February 2016
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