Sinkholes and potholes are a headache to many road users in the Fourways area but JRA is committed to alleviating the backlog.
Ward 94 councillor, David Foley reached out to the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) after residents contacted him. “Since January, there was a sewage leak in one of our roads which caused the road to deteriorate further. With all the rain the roads have not been able to cope and the amount of potholes just grew. All the areas are suffering from this.”
According to Foley, JRA is doing its best to get to the bottom of what’s causing the proliferation of potholes and sinkholes. They have done an assessment and are awaiting feedback. “The potholes are a high risk not only to motorists but also children and pets. The situation was assessed and some areas were cordoned off with signage to ensure motorists would not damage their vehicles. I have asked the inspector for further feedback but I think JRA is waiting for the Gauteng Province Department of Roads and Transport for their feedback.”
In response to the many roads that need attention, JRA launched a pothole drive called ‘JRA in Action’ and it is not slowing down. JRA spokesperson Bertha Peter-Scheepers said, “We are working to resolve the high pothole backlog throughout the city. Many of the city’s roads are ageing, some are impacted by underground water or water run-off onto the road surface or insufficient drainage during storms, heavy vehicles driving on residential roads and of course lack of maintenance which includes pothole repairs, crack sealing and resurfacing all of which, if attended to, will prolong the life of our roads.
“JRA is also rolling out a R100 million roads resurfacing programme along main arterial routes city-wide which will extend the life of key arterial routes.”
She thanked the community for reporting potholes and other road-related issues to JRA so they ‘can resolve issues timeously’.
While in the area, the Fourways Review encountered a JRA team fixing some of the affected roads.
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