Berea riddled with road damage

RESIDENTS living in the greater Berea area say they are fed up with the state of their roads and pavements. In some instances, potholes block entire lanes on some roads.

One of the severely damaged roads in the area is Randles Road in Mayville which contains several potholes, including one large hole that pushes cars into the next lane just to get to the other end of it.

Ward 31 councillor Remona Mckenzie says the issues in the road are due to neglect. “The issue at hand is the neglect of Randles Road over the years. This road is now beyond maintenance and needs to be resurfaced urgently.”
Mckenzie says the road has been a concern for years. “There should have been a plan put in place to repair this road before it reached the status of ‘beyond maintenance’. This road has been a concern for many years, from the time of Councillor Chris Pappas, and I am shocked that it still has not been resolved. Provision should have been made in the budget for this road to be repaired, as it’s long overdue and is a long-outstanding issue.”

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The councillor says residents have lost patience. “I have residents who don’t have the patience anymore because their cars are damaged because of this road. Traffic has drastically increased in the years, and it’s a real danger for the community presently.”

Ward 31 resident and ward committee member, Selwyn Anderson, says the hole came as a result of underground pipe issues that caused a massive sinkhole in the road. “This could be the second or third time, beginning from about October last year, that the underground pipe on Randles Road has ruptured, and in so doing, it creates a dangerous sinkhole. We are finding that our infrastructure is falling to pieces very soon after it has been repaired.”

Anderson says the sewer infrastructure in the City urgently needs to be updated. “The sewer infrastructure was not built to accommodate the numbers of people who now utilise it, which could include an influx of refugees, people living in informal settlements and people living in student accommodation; is this not a recipe for disaster? The dynamics of area changes have dramatically increased, and yet infrastructure remains the same.”

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The sinkhole in Randles Road has recently been filled with crusher soil and has been stamped, but without tarring, it remains a hazard for road users and drivers.
Other roads in the area that remain damaged, with massive holes that cause an obstruction for drivers, are Riley Road, St Thomas Road and the corner of Stephen Dlamini and Overport Drive.

Residents are fed up and are appealing to the municipality for solutions.

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