During a site visit to the collapsing St Andrew’s Road Bridge, it was unveiled to the NEWS and Ward 18 Clr Heather Hart that little can be done to prevent the bridge from collapsing further.
The NEWS was invited to the November 25 meeting by Hart which was attended by representatives of the City of Ekurhuleni’s Roads and Stormwater Department. Planning, implementation and maintenance officials attended the meeting with Hart.
“Although there are other access points, St Andrew’s Road is a main thoroughfare and would cause chaos for the community and learners of Hurlyvale Primary School if the bridge suffers further damage,” said Hart.
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The officials told Hart this issue is not isolated to Edenvale and that across the municipality funds needed to be reallocated because of the Covid-19 crisis.
“It was only a matter of time before this happened to the St Andrew’s Road Bridge. It is extremely unfortunate that this happened during a time when funding is tight. If this problem was reported two years ago, we might have a solution now.”
The officials estimated that approximately R10-million would be needed to repair the bridge completely.
They said although the bridge does not need to be closed it did need urgent attention.
In an attempt to get the necessary funding from the municipality, Hart said she has two choices.
“I can either petition the city manager for emergency funding or I can try to get the bridge’s repair included in the CoE’s plans of constructing the attenuation dams in the Hurlyvale Park.”
Last year it was announced the project will see two shallow attenuation dams constructed on either side of St Andrew’s Road in the foreseeable future.
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