M13 highway in KZN ‘on the verge of collapse’

Reports to the Department of Transport (DoT) that the M13 in KwaZulu-Natal is in urgent need of a complete overall by competent engineers, continue to fall on deaf ears.

This according to a Waterfall resident, who has raised his concerns about a section of the M13 which he believes is on the verge of collapse as the damage is increasing rapidly following heavy rainfall, reports Highway Mail.

Gerard Rudolph said he has tried to report the issue with the M13 off-ramp to Hillcrest/Winston Park to the storm damage department via email, phone and WhatsApp. “I have received no ‘bounce’ message and no response.”

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Rudolph said he managed to get hold of eThekwini road repairs, “but once they heard that it was water damage, the lady I spoke to told me that I should phone the storm water department – but struggled to find the right number, eventually settling on about the fourth number that she read out to me.”

The Upper Highway resident said this problem is known to the Department of Transport, as the damage was visible in April following the Easter weekend floods.

“To date, no repairs or any apparent attempt to prevent further runoff/erosion has taken place. Eight months is too long for serious damage to a major road to go unattended,” said Rudolph.

Another resident, Struan Alexander, said he has been trying for some time to encourage the DoT to fix the M13 roadside barriers as they have been in a shocking state for years. “However, it seems the more pressing issue may be the road slipping away on Fields Hill.”

Ward 10 councillor, Tex Collins said after a horrific accident which claimed the lives of 22 people in 2013, the then Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Willies Mchunu, promised all manner of upgrades and work that would be done on the M13.

“He assured the public that there would be solid concrete barriers down the centre and the road would be widened to accommodate the increased traffic flow and to enhance the safety aspects of the road.

“This was nothing more than an empty promise because not a single thing has been done to Fields Hill since. The previous councillor for ward 10 made a number of requests for the M13 to be properly maintained but to no avail.”

Collins said he continued to appeal to the DoT for the necessary work to be done to the Armco barriers and the verges when he became the councillor in 2016, “but once again, nothing has been done.

“The latest repair was done a short while ago above Jameson Terrace but this, too, is nothing more than a placebo as the work done is at best poor and at worst a waste of time as with the rains now well and truly set in, it will only take one storm and the entire ‘repair’ job will be washed away.”

He added that the responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the M13 lies directly with the DoT, and as a provincial department they are an “abject failure and clearly it may well take another calamity before they actually get off their rear ends and do some real rehabilitation work.”

The DoT has not responded to requests for comment.

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