Blantyre City Council opens two bypass streets to ease traffic flow

By Duncan Mlanjira

Blantyre City Council has opened two roads to motorists to ease traffic flow in the city through the new bypasses from the junction to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Chipatala Road to Kamba in Soche Township and the junction into Lali Lubani from Makata Road all the way to Kenyatta Drive at Chinyonga.

In a public statement, Blantyre City Council alerts motorists that the roads are still in the final stages of construction and must be used with caution by following all road signs and directions set by the contractors on sites.

At peak hours of morning, midday and evening, the junction into Chipatala Road is usually congested and calls into action traffic police officers to control as many motorists head towards Mahatma Gandhi Road traveling to Kamba and Sunnyside — thus usually blocking cars exiting after visiting Queens Hospital.

Motorists from Queens Hospital need not rejoin Mahatma Gandhi if going to Soche and along Kenyatta Drive, giving traffic flow some breathing spaces.

Those joining Mahatma Gandhi for Soche Township of Chitawira, Naperi and Nkolokosa would just branch into Chipatala Road all the way to Kamba.

The benefits of the Lali Lubani to Kenyatta Drive Road is two fold — those coming from Limbe, Yiannakis, Maselema and Zomba but heading to Chinyonga, Soche, Zingwangwa, Chilobwe, need not go past the Independence Arch to encounter traffic congestion at Chichiri Roundabout and at Kwacha Roundabout.

Motorists from HHI through Makata Road travelling to the direction of Limbe also do not need to reach the Chichiri Roundabout but into Lali Lubani Road to connect into Masauko Chipembere Highway at National College of Information & Technology (NACIT), commonly known as Pa Data.

While those to Chinyonga and Kanjedza will soon join into the new bypass at the Independence Arch.

Malawi Government has reaffirmed its commitment to improving road infrastructure in Blantyre, as it says it has constructed, rehabilitated and upgraded several roads in the commercial city that include these two bypasses and Chiwembe to Newlans Road via Manje, Michiru to Black Box Road, Makhetha to Ndirande via Nkolokoti and Namiwawa to Sunnyside.

The rehabilitation is being done in a bid to align with the MW2063 national vision and the program is expected to enhance transportation and regional connectivity in the country.

Meanwhile, Blantyre City Council warned its residents in August that in keeping of its objective of ‘Taking the City Back to the People’, it prohibited new developments from being erected on hills and stream reserves of the city and that those who would defy the order and build shall have their structures demolished.

A public notice from Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Chinseu specifically mentioned hills of Soche, Ndirande, Bangwe, Mpingwe, Mthawira, Nyambadwe and reserves of all streams and rivers in the city.

“The Council will prosecute anyone who will start new developments or continue any development in the stated areas in defiance of this notice.”

The huge death toll from the Cyclone Freddy-induced floods in March were mainly from the massive mudslide from Soche Hill that claimed lives and displaced thousands in Chilobwe, Manja and the community named Soche Hill.

The effects of the floods, which hit hard many parts of the Southern Region, is still been felt by many people who lost their houses and several organisations are partnering with Habitat for Humanity Malawi to build climate change-resilient houses for homeless survivors.