Locals at their wits’ end over damaged road on busy intersection
Florentia residents have had to endure car hoots and profanity from frustrated motorists because of a busy intersection on Pieter Uys Avenue and Van Rensburg Street.
This, according to Deon Steyn, is because of the damage to the road which has been left in a bad state for over two months. The damage was caused by a burst water pipe that was recently fixed.
However, the damaged road on the intersection causes delays to motorists, forcing big cars to resort to using the lane for oncoming traffic.
Steyn, who has lived in the area for years, suggested that the City of Ekurhuleni should put traffic lights at the intersection to minimise reckless driving.
“The road has remained in this state for months now. This is terrible. If it’s not having a problem with electricity then it will be water.
“A truck also had to drive onto oncoming traffic because of little space on the intersection,” he said.
Steyn told the RECORD that they have already lost high volumes of water from the temporally fixed water pipe.
“Just last week the CoE had a contractor here to fix it; however, thousands of litres of water were wasted on the day. As they tried to fix the pipe, they temporally placed a rock on top of the leak to prevent water from splashing out.
“Everyone knows that water is a scarce resource, they should have quickly fixed the pipe,” he said.
The City’s divisional head of communication, Nhlanhla Cebekhulu, said: “Temporary repairs were done to the burst pipe to minimise water loss while waiting for the correct material to do permanent repairs.
“As the pipe is not a standard size the material needed is not standard and not readily available.” Cebekhulu said the pipe will be fitted and road reinstated as soon as material is received.
UPDATE – Comment:
Ward 37 Councillor Tiaan Kotzé said he was aware of the situation and also reiterated that he would follow up regularly for this to be done.
“It’s true that the repairs took much too long, I have personally visited the site couple of times over the period. I took photos and updated residents over social media and WhatsApp service groups with the latest on the issues there. The water department did their best in terms of getting a specialised clamp due to the nature of the leak and the pipe was let down by the contractor,” he said.
Kotzé said contractors who do not meet standards should be relieved of their contract by the Metro.
He also said the leak is now repaired with a specialised clamp and all that is needed is for the storm water pipe to be reinstated and the road repaired.
