After a series of heavy rainstorms, Bridge Road located in Buccleuch reached its final capacity on February 9, as parts of the infrastructure eroded to the point of making use by vehicles impossible.
Community members in the Buccleuch area who have been dependent on the bridge were disappointed to find out that their main passage was declared unsafe to use – again. It hasn’t been the first incident that the bridge has faced.
“At this point I consider it to be madness that the officials handling the improvement of the bridge are still trying to fix the bridge temporarily. It hasn’t been working in our favour. What we need is a solid solution where people won’t have to worry about waking up an hour earlier to avoid traffic. Something that will last. It’s a waste of resources to temporarily fixing and having it broken again,” said one of the residents of Buccleuch, Brando Naidoo.
Ward 32 councillor Dimakatso Moloisane briefly addressed the matter of how much the project of constructing the bridge will cost and followed up on the progress. “There are funds allocated to repairing the bridge which will roughly cost R34 million, the only thing outstanding at this point is the appointment of the contractor.
“Once that is sorted, we will then proceed with public participation where we call on the community to formally introduce both the project and the contractor. After the collapse of the bridge on February 9, we contacted the Johannesburg Roads Agency to completely close down the bridge to ensure public safety. We are pushing relevant parties to start the project soonest.”
In recent events, the bridge was declared unsafe for drivers to use due to reports of flash floods that forcefully carried cars into the river.
Mosa Makhalima, spokesperson for the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) said, “The JRA is aware of the collapsed bridge due to flooding damages. The bridge has been temporary closed for safety. A service provider has been appointed and currently reviewing the designs. Reconstruction is envisaged to take place in the new financial year.”
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