Council to turn ED Mnangagwa Road into business corridor 

Ivan Zhakata, Herald Correspondent

Harare City Council, through its Highlands District Office, is set to transform Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Road (formerly Enterprise Road) into a business corridor.

The idea is contained in a new Enterprise Local Subject Plan which was tabled before residents last month.

A business corridor is an integrated network of infrastructure within a geographical area designed to stimulate economic development.

In other countries, it often features integrated infrastructure, such as highways, railroads and ports that may link cities or countries.

They may also be created to link manufacturing hubs, areas with high supply and demand, and manufacturers of value-added goods.

ED Mnangagwa Road stretches for 11,2 kilometres from its intersection with Robert Mugabe Road to the Mutoko tollgate.

In an interview, Ward 8 councillor Keith Charumbira said the Enterprise Corridor, as it has been named, will complement and enhance business in Highlands.

“The current Local Development Plan (LDP) was done in 1979 and currently we have managed to develop the Enterprise Local Subject Priority Plan working with our planning department and our consultant,” he said.

“The plan is now in place and open to the residents to view and submit their comments and views. This plan is for the people, so their involvement is key in every decision that we are making.

“We do not want to miss any contribution, be it good or bad. As you can see, the whole of Enterprise Road (ED Mnangagwa Road) is now a business. It is no longer residential and most of the properties along the road had their use changed to commercial.”

The concept was copied from the United States where Lake Street in Chicago was turned into a fashion corridor for clothing outlets.

In South Africa, De Villiers Street in Johannesburg’s central business district, among other streets, was turned into a business corridor to enhance business.

Clr Charumbira said previous research by a consultant showed that more than 360 properties on ED Mnangagwa Road were serving as businesses, though most of them were not registered with council.

“This has been prejudicing council and the residents because they are operating without permits in breach of the council by-laws, so if we formalise ED Mnangagwa Road as a business corridor, it will force them to register,” he said.

“According to the Enterprise Local Subject Priority Plan, we are supposed to dualise the road, meaning to say there will be more street lights on the road and traffic lights on every intersection along the road.

“The transformation of ED Mnangagwa Road into a business corridor will also help in addressing the challenges that the suburb is facing, which include expansion of sewer systems, improvement of water supplies and infrastructural development.”