Source of road in Alrode South degradation still unknown
City’s roads department says the water source causing the area to remain wet is the sole contributing factor to Alrode South’s degraded road.
The source of the degradation of Hennie Alberts Street at the northern entrance of the area, between Statler Street and Ellis Road in Alrode South, remains unknown.
This is according to the City of Ekurhuleni’s roads department following their site visit on April 8, organised by Brackenhurst resident Gerald Howard.
The degradation of this stretch of road, which negatively affects businesses in the area is due to a nearby water source causing the area to remain wet, regardless of the weather.
Two barriers have since been placed to dissuade motorists from driving on this stretch of road. With the state of the busy road deteriorating over time, motorists have resorted to creating their route on the side of the damaged road.
The site visit was coordinated by customer care manager Pappa Mokebe, who was present to oversee the degraded road.
As previously mentioned in the RECORD, a worrying side-effect of this ongoing problem is that settled businesses in the area are considering their options to move.
This will be a major loss, as the Alrode area is one of the major economic hubs of the town.
Gerald Howard, who demanded answers on this ongoing problem, reiterated this problem was worsened by the constant flow water.
“This visit was after I saw this in the paper and my prior communication with interested parties. This has been here for a long time. I often come here and this is the worst I have seen it. If you’re going to have continuous water flow like this, these potholes won’t be resolved. Something needs to be done to get this water away,” he said.
He said he was mostly concerned about businesses in the area, everyday motorists and those visiting the area for the first time.
To date, there has been no further progress made to address the issue aside from barriers placed to dissuade motorists from using an alternative route, which has proved to be unsuccessful.
Petunia Mdakane of the City’s roads department said there were efforts to channel water away from the roads and that the potholes are a result of constant waterflow.
“We don’t know where the water comes from, and the road was dry all these years. We rehabilitated this road in 2019 since they rehabilitated it in 2012 because of potholes. Water is flowing from the ground onto the road. We tried to dig trenches to channel the water away from the road, but there’s still water flowing from the sides of the road,” she said.
Mdakane also said it would be a futile expenditure to repair the road while there is still water flowing constantly without being sure where it came from.
Ward 74 councillor Samantha Nair said: “Storm water is part of my top priorities. And that being the main road, we will put pressure now that the Integrated Development Plan has been taken up for public participation. I’m going to approach the MMC and HOD of roads and stormwater.”
