The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has explained that because the roads are in key business areas with parking lots filled to capacity during the day, they have worked through the night to minimise the impact on businesses and residents. The recent rains hampered completion of the work, but as of last Thursday, completion was expected to take another two to three evenings.
JRA has given the assurance that all road markings will be reinstated accurately and as soon as possible. They have apologised for any temporary inconvenience to residents but their aim is to provide Melville with a quality road network.
Residents are encouraged to report all road and stormwater issues to 0860 562 874/hotline@jra.org.za; twitter@MyJra; JRA Find& Fix app, so that they can be of assistance.
Bruce Sturgeon, CEO of Caxton Local Media, said he also regretted any inconvenience the resurfacing of roads has caused to residents and businesses, but expressed the hope that the outcome will be in the best interests of Melville in the long term. The resurfacing of roads in the suburb is the outcome of a project Caxton recently launched with the City and relevant local communities to ensure key tourist precincts in the city are well maintained, clean and safe. This follows Joburg being increasingly identified worldwide as a tourist hotspot. Initially, the plan was to resurface just the roads in the main tourist precincts on 7th Street and 4th Avenue, however, as a big bonus, JRA decided to upgrade other key roads in the suburb while in the area.
Sam Mereko, the site agent for JRA, has played a key role in the resurfacing project. “Traffic is a big concern to us,” he said. “It does not only disrupt residents, but also makes our work more difficult. We like to work in a manner that causes minimum disruption to the people who use the road.
“We really love what we do. This is more than a job for us. All the guys I work with do great work, and are proud to be doing this. This is an important job to do, and we do it from the heart, which makes it easier.”
