William Nicol Drive is used as a route to access most areas around Johannesburg.
Unfortunately, a portion of the road is on the verge of collapse at Peter Place in Bryanston. This grave issue was discussed in the Sandton Chronicle article, Drive With Caution in Sandton, Week ending 27 May. It was reported that Ward 102 councillor, David Potter foresaw the possibility of a collapse more than five months ago.
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“William Nicol at Peter Place will, at some point, collapse; both sides of the embankment have eroded so much that the under-surface of the road is exposed on at least one side,” said Potter at the time.
“Due to the fact that the land on the sides of the drive was collapsing, pedestrians would find it difficult to walk over certain portions of the drive, particularly near Peter Place, Bryanston.”
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The matter has now been dealt with by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA). The agency’s spokesperson, Bertha Peters-Scheepers explained, “JRA has appointed a contractor to reinstate the William Nicol Drive sidewalk, which is collapsing, and the objective of this project is to make repairs to the storm water damaged embankment on William Nicol Drive.”
She highlighted that the project will entail the stripping-down of vegetation and organic matter, and widening the embankment for the construction of the sidewalk.
“JRA will install kerb inlets and associated pipeworks. The project also entails the construction of channels and the installation of guardrails, installing gabions [a container filled with earth or stones and used in engineering] and pedestrian kerbing, finishing the embankment with hydroseeding,” she explained.
According to Peters-Scheepers, the progress is at 40 per cent and the contractor is expected to complete the project by the end of November, this year. “There will be no road closures but motorists can expect a reduction of lanes throughout the project time span. There are 10 expanded Public Works staff on site,” she said.
In response to the progress made by the roads agency, Potter said, “We look forward to the upgrade on William Nicol Drive to ensure a safer road and one that will allow pedestrians to safely traverse along William Nicol Drive.”
