Major road works planned for Pinetown
The local councillor, Bruce Sutcliffe, is urging motorists to find alternative routes and to assist the contractor by obeying all signs and deviations.
WARD 18 councillor, Bruce Sutcliffe, is urging motorists travelling through Pinetown to please bear with the upgrade of roads and preparation for the GO Durban’s bus rapid transport system (BRTS) and upgrade of Kings Road.
“Having attended various meetings relating to the above, I wish to ask residents and commuters to be patient with regard to the road upgrades happening in Pinetown.
“There will be major road works happening in the Pinetown CBD for the next year and a half and these will cause traffic disruptions in two of the major roads,” said Sutcliffe.
He is urging residents and motorists to find alternative routes where possible to minimise pressure on these two roads as well as to assist the contractor by obeying all signs and deviations.
The first project relates to the GO Durban BRTS and this concerns two contracts – the first being the section from Dinkelman Road to the intersection of Beviss and Josiah Gumede (Old Main) Road, and the second contract being the section along Josiah Gumede (Old Main) Road from Beviss Road to and along Anderson Street.
The final outcome of the project will be a road with two lanes on either side for motor vehicles and a double lane in the centre for buses.
This has been necessitated due to the need for a bus system which will operate directly from KwaMashu to Pinetown along the almost completed M5 (Dumisani Makhaye Drive) which will decrease pressure on the N3/N2 junction as well as the taxi ranks in Pinetown and Durban.
These contracts are expected to be completed in December 2015 and the contractor has promised to minimise disruption as far as possible.
The second project is the upgrade and resurfacing of Kings Road, a contract which has been necessitated due to structural problems in the road surface.
The contract was officially started on Monday 4 August and will take approximately five months to complete. However, due to the need to relay some of the substructure, the road will be almost closed to allow for the project to be undertaken with possibly only one lane open.
The contractor has agreed to do the project in three sections being the three CBD blocks from Henwood to Crompton, Crompton to Glenugie and the last being Glenugie to Anderson.
“It is my belief that once these two contracts are completed they will decrease pressure on the roads infrastructure within the CBD and allow for a cleaner traffic flow along these routes,” said Bruce.
There is so much traffic issues because just about all the roads, have been narrowed down to one lane only. causing major traffic jams. Why can’t they work on one section at a time so the whole of Pinetown is not under grid lock with traffic. Surely they can finish a section they start on a lot quicker. Most of the lane are closed and nobody working on it. Start a road and get that road finished then go to the next road. This is stupid as just about every road is impossible to get through, so what road must me use now? It also costing me major in petrol and in time, it also don’t help to leave early or late.
What is puzzling is the fact that road works are carried in several different parts of Pinetown. Why not start on one side of town and move across town to minimise disruption !
Is it really necessary to close the whole of Pinetown down..Start one section at a time, complete and move onto the next section is more practical. Our business is in the heart of it all and cannot cope with this major inconvenience, once you make it in you struggle to get out and vice verse. oh and how really interesting it gets when the traffic lights or robots go out…its pathetic. There are so many areas closed off and no one working there, if you going to close off the road for road works, at least work on it.. otherwise start an area, complete it and move on!!!
Crazy there are no alternate routes, and so many trucks. Why couldnt they do this area at a time so we could have an alternate route.