In a Sandton Chronicle article, Roads to disaster, Week ending 20 May, the collapse of Ballyclare Drive was explained.
Ward 102 councillor David Potter, believes that other Sandton roads, such as William Nicol Drive are on their way to disaster as well. “William Nicol at Peter Place will, at some point, collapse,” predicted Potter.
A resident, who has chosen to remain anonymous said, “I have damaged my car on William Nicol Drive and am enraged. I drove over a pothole and got a puncture which cost a lot of money.
“This is not the first time I have damaged my car in Sandton and the worst is that because the roads are so busy, it is impossible to dodge these potholes without the risk of hitting another car. I avoid many of these roads as there is zero upkeep.”
Potter said that in light of the recent collapse of Ballyclare, he is concerned about a portion of William Nicol Drive. “William Nicol Drive near Peter Place remains a huge concern. Both sides of the embankment have eroded so much that the under surface of the road is exposed on at least one side. This was brought to the attention of the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) in around 2011, with promises of emergency funding to be allocated to it for repair, but this has not happened yet,” explained Potter.
He added that the road agency sent out an external consultant to assess the issue. “With regards to this assessment, a report was produced noting the urgency with which the JRA should deal with the matter,” said Potter.
In response to these comments, Bertha Peters-Scheepers, spokesperson for JRA said, “The repairs to the embankment on William Nicol Drive remains a priority for the JRA and funding is available. The previous procurement process advertised last year had to be cancelled as the tenders were unresponsive. A new tender process was initiated and the construction contract is expected to be awarded by the end of May.”
Peters-Scheepers added that to ensure the road is safe and accessible for road users, it has been placed onto our road reconstruction programme for 2016/17. “The designs are currently underway and we expect to have contractors on site later this year around October/ November period. In the interim, a holding measure such as pothole repairs will continue until the road reconstruction programme starts. We thank the community for their patience until this permanent reconstruction solution is implemented,” said Peters-Scheepers.
Road users are urged to drive with caution until the reconstruction has been done.
Details: bscheepers@jra.org.za
Read more:
A portion of Ballyclare Drive has collapsed
