Eden Road, Bramley, has long been a site of contestation as residents do battle with owners of businesses that populate the road at its interface with Louis Botha Avenue.
The dispute has been about access to the suburban street, zoning issues, and good old-fashioned peace and quiet. Now, following a meeting with the Johannesburg Development Agency, residents hope to remove their leafy street once and for all from the businesses’ noise and dirt.
Residents said they have attempted for several years to regulate these businesses, which include a waste paper disposal company, a builder’s yard, and a tavern. According to a 2010 Bramley Precinct Plan, while mixed-use development is supported in properties bordering Louis Botha Avenue, no business access is permitted from residential roads.
Nevertheless, Eden Road was a daily thoroughfare for vehicles, pedestrians and rubbish-collecting trolleys. said resident Tony Smith
In a 9 October meeting with Vuyiswa Tlomatsane of Johannesburg Development Agency, arranged in the context of Rea Vaya construction taking place just metres away on Louis Botha Avenue, residents proposed a solution to their complaints. Their suggestion takes the form of a dividing wall to be constructed between Eden Road’s residential properties and the businesses bordering Louis Botha Avenue. Replacing a crumbling curb and partially-demolished barrier with a wall some 200m further from Louis Botha Avenue would restrict all but pedestrian access from Eden Road, while providing parking for businesses on the Louis Botha Avenue side, suggested Smith.
“It’s a request from yourselves as residents, but it does make traffic engineering sense,” commented Tlomatsane.
“We know that throughout this corridor there is a poor urban management problem,” she added.
To residents’ delight, Tlomatsane has undertaken to direct their request to the Johannesburg Roads Agency. With a promise from the agency to investigate the possibility of further public environment and urban management improvements inline with an existing urban beautification strategy in the area, it seems that Eden Road may be restored to suburban peace in the not-too-distant future.
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