Construction of the long-awaited Delport Road is officially underway, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has announced, marking another step in Zimbabwe’s push to modernise Harare’s traffic network. Once complete, the road will connect to Mutare Road, Seke Road and Airport Road, creating a dedicated link for traffic heading toward Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and easing congestion along one of the capital’s busiest corridors.
The project forms part of the wider Greater Harare Interchanges Programme, which targets multiple congestion hotspots across the city. According to the Ministry’s Deputy Director of Construction, Engineer Virginia Mawere, works underway include the Delport Trumpet Interchange alongside upgrades along a full 19-kilometre stretch of Delport Road linking Airport Road and Seke Road. She said the broader goal is improved safety, reduced travel times and enhanced trade along the regional corridor.
The road’s significance goes beyond simple resurfacing. Analysts note that by linking Delport Road all the way from Mabvuku, the project effectively creates a new eastern bypass, allowing traffic from Mutare Road to reach the southern industrial areas and the airport without ever entering the CBD. The extension is being described as a strategic move in urban planning, creating a direct “outer ring” connection that lets traffic from the eastern suburbs and the Mutare highway bypass the city centre entirely when heading to the airport or southern industrial sites.
The Seke Road–Delport Road junction has for years been flagged as a major bottleneck for commuters travelling between Chitungwiza and Harare, as well as for freight bound for the airport. A grade-separated interchange at this junction is expected to eliminate current at-grade traffic conflicts, cutting travel times and reducing accident risk at the high-volume intersection.
Transport Minister Advocate Felix Mhona has previously stressed the strategic value of the route, noting that Delport Road will not only connect Epworth but will also link major utilities including the airport and Sunway City, which has been declared a Special Economic Zone — effectively creating a direct route from Sunway City to the airport. He added that motorists travelling from Mutare or Ruwa would be able to connect to Chitungwiza via Seke Road without first passing through town, which is also why Seke Road itself is being rehabilitated alongside the Delport works.
The Delport upgrade sits within a broader suite of ongoing interchange projects across Harare, including works at Mabvuku, Harare Drive–Airport Road, and Masasa, all falling under Government’s infrastructure drive tied to Vision 2030’s goal of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper-middle-income economy. Officials have also pointed to knock-on benefits for the corridor, including new opportunities for commercial and residential development and rising property values along the route.
For motorists navigating the Mutare Road–Airport Road bottleneck daily, the message from the Ministry is clear: another step toward improved connectivity and smoother traffic flow is now taking shape on the ground.
