The narrow single lane section on Jan Smuts Avenue from Zoo Lake to Rosebank and from Rosebank to Bompas Road in Dunkeld has been scheduled for widening.
Ward councillor Tim Truluck told Rosebank Killarney Gazette that it would be a trying time for Joburg commuters, but it is one of those things that needs to be done urgently. “Much of this type of work was put off in the past, and now we have to play catch up.”
He referred to Mayor Herman Mashaba‘s speech on the state of Johannesburg’s infrastructure last year when he said, “By 2021, we will have a City where the roads are in a better state than we found them in. Communities will experience fewer power outages than they live with right now. We will have achieved a more stable supply of water, and reduced losses in our water-scarce environment. This is what it means to be a responsive, accountable and caring government.”
Mashaba explained that the repair and maintenance levels they are engaging in as a city currently, are quick fixes that return within a few weeks or months. He also appealed to residents to understand, because, like any contract, there must be two parties willingly agreeing and knowing all the facts.
“My request to our residents is to please bear with us during this period. The job of saving our City from the imminent collapse of our infrastructure cannot happen overnight. I would like our residents to see the construction around the City as progress towards a better, more reliable supply of services to our people.”
The road-widening of Jan Smuts Avenue is the beginning of this construction phase where Johannesburg’s infrastructure will be upgraded. It will take about 18 months if all goes according to plan and the road works could be completed by mid-2020.
Truluck had a meeting with the consultants and Joburg Roads Agency (JRA) last week where he determined the following:
- The widening of Jan Smuts Avenue will directly affect the following suburbs: Saxonwold, Parkwood, Rosebank, Parktown North, Dunkeld and Dunkeld West
- There will be two lanes on both sides, and it will go from Erlswold Road to just after Bolton Road and again from Jellicoe Avenue to just before Bompas Road
- It will have a central median that will divide the two sides. This means that some roads – Westwold, Ashwold, Rutland, Sussex, Newport, 12th Avenue and Smits – will be left turn in and out only
- Intersections will have marked pedestrian crossings and wheelchair slopes. No new traffic lights or stop streets will be installed
- There will be a 1,5m-wide sidewalk and a metre of planted area between the sidewalk and road on both sides
- Services will have to be removed or realigned. This will result in occasional outages due to accidents and reconnections/work. A community liaison advisor will be appointed to handle these type of problems
- The trees will be removed. A heritage study was done to determine this. JRA will provide trees for planting in the neighbourhood green areas for every tree removed. No trees will be replanted in the road reserve
- The whole road reserve will be used, so properties will not be able to use it for parking anymore. If they have built over it, it will need to be demolished. These property owners will be notified
- One side of the road will be done at a time allowing two lanes still to be used for traffic flow, but there will be congestion
- A public meeting will be held later in February where residents will receive more details
- The contract should go out to tender by late March or April, and it is estimated that work will start late this year
Johannesburg Road Agency ops manager: marketing and communications, Bertha Peters-Scheepers provided further information:
- The agency has appointed engineers to develop a design for the upgrading of Jan Smuts Avenue to a dual carriageway from Northwold Drive to Bolton Road and from 8th Avenue to Kent Road in Rosebank
- This upgrade intends to improve mobility and traffic congestion relief along Jan Smuts Road which connects the northern suburbs (wider Fourways area) with southern suburbs (Braamfontein and Joburg CBD)
- The agency has met with ward councillors to brief them on the project and community briefing sessions and business forum sessions are currently being arranged
- Only once input has been received from the community and designs have been finalised, will construction companies be invited to tender
- It is envisaged that construction work will only commence during the second half of the 2018/19 financial year.
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