A LOCAL businessman said a decision by the eThekwini Municipality to upgrade Inanda Road has completely ‘crippled’ his business due to the project cutting off access to his convenience centre.
Yushveer Jagessur, the general manager of the Springlake Convenience Centre on Inanda Road said the construction of a bus lane and centre island along the road has meant that vehicles travelling away from Springfield Park cannot make a right turn to access the petrol station and other businesses located on the site.
“This construction project started a while back and prior to the centre island installation, vehicles could access the service station and turn right to visit the convenience shop or fill petrol. However, now that the island has been enclosed it has meant that only traffic flowing towards Sea Cow Lake and onwards can access the site. We are a high pumping site and many trucks make use of this service station but without access for truck drivers or motorists to turn right into our service station, our business is suffering.
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“Our fuel sales are down more than 60% and we were one of the businesses looted during the unrest. I’m afraid to say without proper access to the station, our business is completely crippled. Our volumes have dropped significantly and we anticipate further cutbacks due to this decision by the City. Major customers have pulled out and more than 50 businesses have signed a petition saying they will have to stop doing business with us due to the lack of access from the right lane,” he said.
Jagessur added that customers and truck drivers found it difficult making a u-turn on Peter Road, just 200 metres away from the convenience centre.
“It is highly illegal and dangerous for a truck to make a u-turn on Peter Road to come back around should they need petrol. We can’t cope anymore and this is hampering our customers and business. This convenience center has been here for more than 20 years and our hope is the City listens to our plight. We are not against the development and we are happy the infrastructure is being upgraded, however, we are asking the City to reconsider and make a concession to incorporate a turning lane (going right) to help save our business,” Jagessur said.
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