MBABANE/MANZINI HIGHWAY’S WORSENING STATE

MBABANE – The country’s financial challenges are beginning to show even in the state of its roads.

Driving on the MR3 (Matsapha-Mbabane-Ngwenya road), which is considered the kingdom of Eswatini’s major highway, one cannot help but notice that it needs serious attention.
The private companies that used to maintain this road had to stop after government suspended the issuing of such tenders due to the reported lack of financial resources.

The overgrowth that characterises the sidewalks of the road cannot be missed because it is now creeping onto the traffic lanes.
The water drainage system is also completely covered by the long grass which blocks any water that comes as a result of the rains that are currently aplenty.
This results in the water being diverted onto the road and thereby affecting the traffic flow.

The guard rails are also becoming an eyesore as they remain unattended to after having been damaged probably during traffic accidents.
Guard rails, according to medium.com, are important as they keep people and vehicles from drifting into hazardous or off-limits areas.

‘SERVE AS PROTECTOR’
In a nutshell, they are said to ‘serve as a great protector’.

One of the areas that have been affected is the sharp corner that is between Mfabantfu/Ngonini and VOCTIM/Matsapha traffic circle where there is a median cable barrier that has not been fixed for quite some time. 
Median cable barriers are made of three or four steel cables strung on posts and they operate such that when a car hits the barrier, the posts break and the cables flex, diffusing some of the crash impact felt by vehicle occupants and redirecting the vehicle along the median instead of across it.

Although these barriers are reportedly cheaper to maintain than concrete barriers, the ones along the MR3 have been unmaintained since vehicles crashed onto them.
C&H Construction, a company that specialises in median cable barrier systems, describes this as a safe, attractive, low-cost alternative to the W-beam guardrail and can be repaired quickly when hit by a vehicle.
Besides the unmaintained guardrails, road signage is also becoming difficult to view because of being submerged in the overgrowth by the roadside.

Recently, efforts are being made by employees under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport who have been seen clearing the overgrowth.
However, their efforts are being let down by the tendency to leave the plants that have been removed lying idle next to the road and they get swept onto the traffic lanes either by rainwater or wind.
 

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