WARD councillor Heinz de Boer has urged residents using Armstrong Avenue (near the mall) and William Campbell Drive to allow for extra travel time after a sinkhole caused the partial closure of a traffic circle in La Lucia. It’s believed the heavy rains led to the sewer collapsing under the road surface leading to the sinkhole.
Warning tape and plastic cones have been placed on one side of the circle going towards Ridge Road which runs under the M4 bridge.
“The heavy rains did cause massive damage around the area and especially to La Lucia. We believe this sewer collapsed because of the heavy rains. The problem also reinforces the issue about residents illegally connecting their stormwater outlets into the sewerage pipes. In this case the over-capacitating caused the burst and the eventual sinkhole.
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“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened in the ward, we’ve often had issues with residents knowingly or unknowingly connecting their stormwater drains to the sewer line. The stormwater pipes are designed to carry rainfall runoff and other drainage but because people are connecting them directly to the sewer lines, it’s causing a massive problem in the ward,” he said.
De Boer said it could take more than a week for repairs to the road surface and sewer line beneath it.
“At this point due to the ongoing strike, the repairs will take more than a week which could cause further delays to motorists using Armstrong Avenue to go towards the M4 or up to Gateway. I urge them to be patient and allow for extra travel time in peak hour traffic due to the problem. Eventually that area around the traffic circle will have to be excavated to fix the leak before patching up the road,” he said.
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