Busy Eiland road is worsening

Ducking and weaving through potholes has become a way of life for motorists and residents using the Eiland road as upgrades have stalled.

The busy road sees major traffic on a daily basis which worsens when the citrus farms located nearby are harvesting with tractors and trucks moving back and forth.

Frequent user of the road, Mariëtte Smit, said they had lodged many complaints regarding the road but nothing had been done to date.

“The potholes are so severe that almost all the traffic has diverted to the Giyani road and the traffic there is now also a mess.”

She said it becomes bottlenecked with the many trucks, trailers and caravans of holiday makers going to the Eiland resort on a daily basis.

“Some of the people do not know the road and when it rains the potholes fill with water and are not visible. Once a person drives through it, chances are high that they will damage their cars.”

“Emergency personnel also have to re-directed to the Giyani road because the Eiland road has become so bad to drive. I also had damage on my bumper after hitting one of the deep potholes.

“The sinkhole that formed on the road also still has not been repaired and farmers had to create an alternative route around it. It should not have to be like this.”

She said due to the damage, some parts of the road became too disintegrated to overtake and stop-and-go’s had to be implemented.

“We are not happy at the way the road was neglected. The heavy traffic has increased the likelihood of accidents.”

She said the road, which spans around 40 kilometres, is way overdue for maintenance due to its economic importance as big citrus farms use it to transport their produce and access their farms. It should have been maintained better from the start, she said.

“I have been called out to assist a few people who were stuck after hitting one of these big potholes bursting their tyres and damaging their suspension or wheel alignment,” Smit said.

According to another road user and resident, Nina Rudman, the state of the road will worsen with the rainy season approaching.

“Potholes surface fast due to the high usage of the road, especially heavy duty vehicles.
“They do repair the road but only in parts. The problem is that once they move on from the part that they were working on, it does not last long. Quick fixes do not help at all. They should rather close one lane and repair it and put stop-and-go checks in place. That way the solution can be more permanent,” suggested another road user, Andrew Bopape.

Willy Shingange told the Herald that motorists sometimes have to take risks into oncoming traffic in order to avoid the big potholes.
“You cannot risk driving into one; it can damage your tyres badly or even burst them causing you to lose control. The road is too narrow, but many road users do not have a choice and have to use the road.”

Mopani roads and infrastructure spokesperson Joel Seabi had previously said the road was earmarked to receive upgrades after the new financial year with various options being looked at, but these seem to have halted.
Attempts to get comments before publishing failed.