Rain causes havoc in Bedfordview
Traffic along De Wet Street had to be rerouted after a tree fell onto the road blocking the road completely.
Panic was the order of the day in Bedfordview last Thursday after heavy rains swept through most of Gauteng in the afternoon.
Thanks to both the January and November flash floods last year, Gillooly’s Interchange has become notorious for flooding and traffic jams during heavy rains.
Last week was no exception.
Motorists took to social media to share photographs of the flooded N3 highway.
Traffic along De Wet Street had to be rerouted after a tree fell onto the road, blocking the road completely.
Ward 20 councillor, Clr Jill Humphreys, said she is worried about the sinkhole that has since formed on Boeing Road West in Morninghill.
“This specific spot is an accident waiting to happen. The ground has shifted and is now unstable. I am worried because people come flying onto the road from both the R24 highway and Ernest Oppenheimer Avenue. The worst is that we cannot afford any accident on that corner, especially because the filling station has over 200 litres of petrol in tanks underground,” said Clr Humphreys.
She said with every rainfall, when the highway floods, the filling station struggles with the inflow of water.
The R24 West was closed to traffic following the heavy rains in February.
Residents raised concerns over the state of the roads.
“I don’t know how much more these roads can take. Every time there is a backlog of traffic on the surrounding highways, the in-roads are affected by people avoiding the highways. As things stand now, Bedfordview has potholes in almost every street. We have to navigate through these potholes on a daily basis and with more rainfall, it will only get worse,” said one resident.
Clr Humphreys said the stretch of the Jukskei that passes through Morninghill remains highly polluted.
“Sewage from hijacked buildings in the Joburg CBD has been connected to stormwater drains. Meaning all the raw sewage from there passes through here, causing a stench for the residents,” said Clr Humphreys.
She said new properties have to attenuate some of the rain water in their property.
“This simply means keeping some of the rain water in your property. It is advisable to have permeable surfaces on your property to allow the movement of stormwater through the surface. This also reduces runoff into the roads, which good seeing as our stormwater drains are inadequate,” said Clr Humphreys.
