By Kalata News
Lusaka, December– ZAMBIA needs to expand its road network to reduce the time it takes to move raw materials, goods and services from one town to another, says the Zambia Roads and Highway Safety Group.
The Highway Safety Group notes that speed restrictions on the highway, lack of direct routes between key towns and provinces and a bad road surface makes road transportation slow and costly.
The Group says it takes over an hour to cover 100km on good roads and over 2 and half hours to cover the same distance of gravel and potholed roads.
In a 2024 Report on Zambian highways, the Highway Safety Group proposes that major economic towns like Solwezi must have direct links to Lusaka for administrative purpose and nearer towns like Mongu and others for easy transportation of their raw materials and products to their international and regional markets.
The Highway Safety Group has also advocated for the removal of the night ban to allow for public service vehicles such as buses and haulage trucks to move at night.
“A wider highway with ample room for heavy goods vehicles to move faster and safer while allowing smaller vehicles not to interfere with public services vehicles will allow for cheaper and safer transportation of raw materials, goods and services between the production areas and markets,” says the Report.
The Highway Safety Groups hopes the plans and designs for new roads will meet the demands for higher speeds and safer travel both highway traffic and domestic transport in the towns and villages these roads pass.
The Zambian Roads & Highway Safety Group (ZRHSG) is a registered road safety and road health group with over 16,000 members who promote an improved road network and road safety in Zambia. The Group offers space for transporters sharing personal experiences and knowledge on road safety issues on Zambian roads and Highways.
These discussions will help identify road safety issues, bad policies and bad road designs requiring improvement by government and its agencies such as RTSA, RDA, NRFA, ZP and local councils.
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