Source: NEW: Mabvuku Interchange promises to ease one of Zimbabwe’s busiest traffic corridors – herald Freeman Razemba Senior Reporter FOR motorists travelling along the Harare-Mutare Highway, the Mabvuku turn-off was a familiar bottleneck. However, ongoing construction of a modern traffic interchange at the intersection is about to address the challenge. Construction of the Mabvuku Interchange, […] The post NEW: Mabvuku Interchange promises to ease one of Zimbabwe’s busiest traffic corridors ap
Source: NEW: Mabvuku Interchange promises to ease one of Zimbabwe’s busiest traffic corridors – herald
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
FOR motorists travelling along the Harare-Mutare Highway, the Mabvuku turn-off was a familiar bottleneck.
However, ongoing construction of a modern traffic interchange at the intersection is about to address the challenge.
Construction of the Mabvuku Interchange, which is now 58 percent complete, is expected to ease congestion, reduce accidents and improve the movement of traffic along one of the capital’s busiest corridors.
Completion of the project is set for the end of November.
The key to the project is to separate traffic travelling straight along the highway from vehicles turning into and out of Mabvuku.
Once complete, the Harare-Mutare Highway will pass over the junction, allowing traffic travelling between Harare and Mutare to continue without being interrupted by vehicles turning into the suburb.
Motorists entering or leaving Mabvuku will instead use slip lanes underneath the elevated highway, with traffic lights controlling vehicles joining or leaving the main road.
This is designed to eliminate some of the points where vehicles previously crossed each other’s paths, which engineers identified as major sources of congestion and accidents.
Deputy director of construction in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Engineer Virginia Mawere said the project was specifically designed to separate traffic movements at the busy junction.
“So, the project essentially consists of the separation of traffic given the high levels of congestion and the number of accidents that we have been witnessing at this junction,” she said.
A motorist coming from Harare and heading into Mabvuku will leave the main highway and use a slip lane to pass underneath the interchange before connecting with Donnybrook Road into the suburb.
The same principle will apply to traffic leaving Mabvuku and joining the highway.
Engineer Mawere said the arrangement would remove a major choke point at the junction.
“What we have done is, by separating this traffic, we have eliminated a conflict point, which is where we were witnessing quite a number of accidents,” she said.
The benefits are expected to go beyond the immediate junction.
The Mabvuku interchange forms part of a wider Greater Harare Interchanges Project aimed at improving traffic flow at several congestion hotspots across the capital.
Another important component is the construction of Delport Road, which will connect the Mabvuku side of Mutare Road with Seke Road and Airport Road.
This connection will create an alternative route for traffic heading towards Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and, further along, Chitungwiza, reducing pressure on existing routes.
The idea is to create a network of roads that allows motorists to choose alternative routes instead of forcing large volumes of traffic through the same junctions.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said the Government wanted the various projects to work together rather than operate as isolated road upgrades.
“As we open this interchange, we also need to open the Jaggers, which is Harare Drive junction; and not only that, we also have to connect traffic going towards the airport to Chitungwiza using Delport Road,” he said.
At the Mabvuku Interchange, construction has fairly progressed.
Eng Mawere said work was now focused on installing the beams that will support the elevated section of the interchange.
A total of 70 T-beams are required, with 24 already installed.
The contractor is installing about four to five beams a day, with the remaining beams to be in place within 10 days.
Work will then move to construction of the deck and surfacing before the structure is opened to traffic.
The project began in September 2025.
However, the importance of the interchange also extends beyond commuters travelling between Mabvuku and Harare.
The Harare-Mutare Highway is part of the Beira Corridor, carrying substantial commercial traffic between Zimbabwe and Mozambique through Forbes Border Post.
The volume of heavy trucks using the route, Eng Mawere said, meant the interchange had to be designed to withstand significant loads.
“This is the route that then leads to Forbes Border Post, leading all the way to Beira,” she said.
The road, therefore, serves local commuter traffic, national commercial traffic and regional freight, making the interchange an important part of Zimbabwe’s wider transport network.
Minister Mhona said the project was also linked to efforts to improve regional connectivity and strengthen Zimbabwe’s position on major trade corridors.
With construction now at 58 percent, Government is targeting November 30 for completion and plans to commission the project in December.
The Mabvuku Interchange is one of several projects being implemented as Government seeks to transform traffic movement in Greater Harare, with additional interchanges planned at locations including Jaggers/Msasa and the Delport area.
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