Mbudzi roundabout to be closed soon, motorists told to use diversions

Work has been progressing at the famous Mbudzi roundabout which is in the process of being converted into a full-fledged traffic interchange. The process of turning Mbudzi into a traffic interchange is supposed to take about one and a half years and from now on the roundabout will be closed to motorists. Instead, motorists will be required to use various diversions or detours that are approximately about 1.5 km from the site of the current roundabout on each of the four roads that lead to the roundabout.

The reconstruction of the Mbudzi roundabout will conclude in one and a half years and we hope by that time there will be significant progress.

…The … motoring public shall be using deiversion route-Malvern Road, Forbes Road, Hopely Road and Stoneridge Road.

Kudzanayi Chinyanga, the permanet secretary in the ministry of transport.

Vendors and houses to be moved from site

Most of the houses within the new Mbudzi roundabout are gone after most of the people who lived there accepted offers from the government. It is not clear what the offers were but it is almost certain those included compensation and relocation to new places were the owners can rebuild new hours. Vendors who usually throng the roundabout are sadly out of luck. Officially, Mbudzi is not a designated vending space. The vendors that throng the place do so only because there is a lot of human traffic but most of the time they are engaged in running battles with the police.

The Mbudzi roundabout is not a designation for vendors, that’s why police always move them away because it’s not designed for vending. As for the 135 property owners, they have accepted our offers except for a few who accepted with conditions.

What the permanent secertary had to say on houses and vendors

Vendors will probably find a way to survive. It might mean simply moving out of the construction zone and going to where the new foot-traffic is. They were probably going to move anyway because buses and other vehicles would not be reaching the intersection anymore as it will be closed.