Ward 115 potholes tackled by Pothole Patrol with many more left to go
Cedar Avenue West in Fourways had an extraordinarily high number of potholes that caused traffic issues that were addressed and fixed thanks to the collaborative efforts of Ward 115 councillor Mark van der Merwe and Pothole Patrol senior inspector, Buhle Nkosi.
Two big potholes, named ‘Harry and Megan’ by community members, along with dozens of others are no more, following a pothole filling blitz.
The growing pothole problem in Ward 115 is being addressed through a collaboration between ward councillor Mark van der Merwe and a pothole-filling group called Pothole Patrol.
The work started along Cedar West Avenue in Fourways, a few metres from Fourways Life hospital.
The patrol group has repaired ‘Harry and Megan’ and a few more potholes located along another stretch of road were also earmarked to be fixed by the Pothole Patrol.
Councillor van der Merwe said he had met with one of the inspectors from Pothole Patrol which is an initiative set up by DialDirect and Discovery Insure. The group works with the City of Johannesburg, to assist in filling problematic potholes. He added that he had documented close to 166 potholes in two days, and that is just from half of the ward, that need to be fixed.
“Flamingo Road in Fourways has 71 potholes over a distance of 100 metres. They are small potholes, but we know with the rain, they will get bigger.
“Residents in Cedar complained. I know residents wanted to fix it themselves. They are not allowed to. I recommend to my residents that they report potholes to Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to get a reference number.
“I also recommend they report the potholes to Pothole Patrol.”
Residents on Cedar West Avenue, Ineke Gietzman and Bill Radbourne both said they were grateful that the potholes were being fixed as the situation had become dire.
“We’ve seen the increase in traffic, and we’re absolutely delighted at the speed with which these potholes have been repaired. I think these potholes have been here since the start of the rains this season,” Gietzman said.
“A couple of residents in the area wanted to get everyone together and pay for the road to be tarred again. We got a quote to fix the cracks, but then our councillor got hold of Pothole Patrol and they came straight away.”
Senior inspector of Pothole Patrol, Buhle Nkosi said residents should get in touch if they see a pothole in their area on the Pothole Patrol app from the location where it was found. He added that the patrol group works with the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) in fixing potholes in various locations.
“JRA gives us the leeway to work on the roads within the jurisdiction of the entity,” he said.
He added that there is a difference in what the patrol group does as opposed to what JRA does, as the former only focuses on pothole repairs.
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