Malhampsene pedestrians request footbridge over N4

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Malhampsene pedestrians request footbridge over N4

2:38 CAT | 11 Dec 2015

Jornal Notícias

Regular accidents involving pedestrians crossing the N4 and the Avenida das Indústrias in Malhampsene, Matola, are creating rising discontent among residents.

Making it from one side of the road to the other involves dodging through a constant stream of heavy trucks, and members of the public interviewed by Notícias argue that the construction of a pedestrian bridge or speed bumps would be the best way to minimize the risk of accidents.

Some passersby said the building of a separator between the lanes may have reduced the risk of accidents, but they are asking for more given that the area is increasingly populated and continues to expand. An additional cause for concern are the informal vendors who have started setting up their stalls along the sides of the road, ignoring the risks that entails.

Interviewees indicate that accidents are particularly frequent there because of the road itself. Filimão Getimane, 59, says the road is too narrow for the type of vehicles using it. “This road was not well designed, and they did not foresee this bottleneck. A roundabout or a bridge for pedestrians would make a difference.” For Sérgio Manjate, 36, the road does not address pedestrian safety because it lacks signs and traffic lights.

TRAC: No plans for a pedestrian bridge

Fenias Mazive, director of the Trans-African Concessions Maintenance Center – Mozambique (TRAC), recognizes the dangers posed by the concentration of people along the motorway but said there is no plan to build a pedestrian bridge and the most effective solution would be to move the informal vendors to appropriate municipal markets.

Mazive said moreover that experience showed pedestrian bridges were ineffective as pedestrians used them only as a last resort. “I regret to say that some pedestrian bridges built along the N4 are not used”, he explains. “We need to protect human lives, but the removal of informal vendors is the responsibility of the municipality and not of TRAC.”

Heavy goods vehicle traffic on the N4 carrying toxic products could be especially dangerous in the event of an accident. Mazive also mentions anomalies such as the existence of a passenger bus terminal next to the motorway at the junction between the N4 and Avenida das Indústrias. “This is a part of the problem, because it is in an area not zoned for this purpose,” he says.

Source: Jornal Notícias