Midrand Industrial Park manager lambast JRA’s poor road maintenance and collapsed bridge
Midrand Industrial Park manager Shaun Wilson unhappy and fuming with JRA's lack of fixing roads and a bridge.
A collapsed bridge on Mastiff Road, which has allegedly been in a bad state since January 2022, has left the Midrand Industrial Park manager Shaun Wilson infuriated and vowing to take a legal route against the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA).
According to Wilson, the park was facing many challenges such as potholes and untarred roads, which needed JRA’s urgent attention.
He said more than 3 000 vehicles entered and exited the park daily with 60% of these used to haul heavy loads, transport trucks and cement mixing trucks among others.
“The road conditions are causing loads of challenges for about 54 companies that are on this premises. If JRA is not doing anything about this, then we will have no options but to take legal action,” said Wilson.
He said if JRA did nothing about the collapsed bridge, it would endanger motorists’ lives.
This after a motorist had apparently sustained critical injuries on July 12 after hitting the concrete barricades that were put near the collapsed bridge and narrowed the road.
However, JRA spokesperson Kelebogile Mafa said their infrastructure planning department was aware of the challenges including the collapsed gabion wall of the bridge which needed to be reinstated as a short-term solution.
“[The] barricades were erected as a temporary measure. Details of the accident would have to be sought as this suggests a high-speed impact on a local residential road [60km/h]. Our regional operations in the area will ensure that there are visible temporary signs with speed warnings to alert drivers of the lane reduction,” said Mafa.
She said the bridge structure was designed to allow water to flow over the bridge during heavy rainfall or flash floods, as it was a low-lying structure.
Mafa concluded, “If JRA rushes to fix these roads via normal maintenance activities [deep patching – periodic maintenance], this may likely amount to fruitless and wasteful expenditure as the holding measures will unravel prior to the period of time anticipated.”
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