Despite residents taking it upon themselves to erect warnings about a dangerous sinkhole forming on a busy road, Rand Water failed to answer questions about its pipeline which is believed to be responsible for this danger on the road.
The worrying sinkhole appeared overnight at the intersection of 14th Avenue and Willson Street in Fairland which caused the surface of the road to become unstable.
Community members including Karin Barrett erected a sign last Tuesday to warn passing motorists. She said, “I observed earlier in the day that if traveling too quickly through the intersection you could do some serious damage to your car and possibly lose control and cause an accident. I felt it necessary to try to warn road users of the danger it was posing.”
Ward 89 councillor Leah Knott has been campaigning tirelessly for this problem to be resolved for over a year as she believes it is part of a larger Rand Water infrastructure issue in the area. She has been tirelessly engaging with city managers, national role-players, and other related entities in a bid to avoid a situation like this.
Knott met with JRA CEO Louis Nel after the sinkhole appeared and said he agreed the situation was unsafe and will work with JRA to help divert traffic away from the sinkhole. “I have requested that Rand Water immediately commence rehabilitation of this intersection and related problems.”
She says the problems essentially stem from, “Rand Water not closing wayleaves with JRA which means quality checks are not being carried out. They are also using incompetent contractors to carry out road repairs following work done on water infrastructure.”
“Willson Street was already repaired last year, but there are several roads affected by the F46 pipeline project. On February 17, a lady lost control of her car due to damage to the road infrastructure as a result of these non-compliant works and rolled her vehicle. She was transported to the hospital. I warned Rand Water at the time of the shoddy workmanship along Wilson Street stating that this near-fatal accident was completely avoidable.”
Bertha Peters-Scheepers from JRA said, “We attended the site the same evening when we were made aware of the problem in Fairlands and secured the site. This was to ensure cars are not damaged and road users and pedestrians are not endangered due to a sinkhole that is developing.”
She said the JRA, Rand Water, and other stakeholders conducted a site inspection, and it was found that one of the Rand Water pipelines was leaking. “As a result, the JRA will be closing off the entire intersection and will work on a traffic diversion plan. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes to the community.”
At the time of going to print the councillor said, “JRA are busy engaging their legal department to obtain a binding agreement between Rand Water and JRA. This will have a bearing on other roads affected by this sub-standard work. JRA is aware of traffic concerns of residents and as soon as a plan has been finalised on how the work will be addressed it will be shared with me and accordingly with residents,”
The intersection has since been closed by JRA stating, “Traffic is being redirected to Johannes Street, Ohlhoff Street, and Norman Drive.
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