WATCH: Potholes on Sovereign Street raise safety concerns for Bedfordview residents
Residents living along Sovereign Street say worsening potholes, missing road markings and unclear municipal responsibility are creating dangerous driving conditions.
A drive up Sovereign Street, which draws the border between Kensington and Bedfordview, may prove to be strenuous.
This is due to the widespread potholes on this street and the surrounding roads.
Long-time resident of Bedfordview and chairperson of Bedford Place, Laura Ausker, said they have been trying to gather support for the potholes on Sovereign Street, Kirkby, Oxford, Mullins, and Pandora roads to be fixed.
@bedfordview.edenv Drivers are forced to swerve to avoid a deep pothole at the intersection of Sovereign Street and Oxford Road, causing traffic disruptions between Bedfordview and Kensington. #Bedfordview #Kensington #RoadSafety #TrafficUpdate #PotholeAlert
Ausker pointed out that there will be a major accident on Sovereign Street because people drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid potholes.
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“The big issue is that one side of Sovereign belongs to the City of Ekurhuleni and the other side belongs to the City of Johannesburg,” Ausker told The News on February 4.
Trustee at Bedford Place, Tony Scorgie, acknowledged that Sovereign Street is becoming increasingly dangerous to travel on.
He said, “One just needs to stand on the street and observe how cars are trying to avoid the potholes. It’s not long before we will have a major accident. Something needs to be done very urgently.”
Meanwhile, Ausker added that there is also a lack of road markings. She also said they have been asking for a traffic circle on Oxford Road and Sovereign Street for 20 years; however, other residents on Sovereign Street don’t seem to want to tackle these issues.
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“So we have managed to get quite a lot of our residents here at Bedford Place to log tickets on the City of Ekurhuleni portal. They just obtain a reference number and an acknowledgement of their case, but with no action,” said Ausker.
In addition, Scorgie said there are 44 trees around their complex boundary that are fire hazards; however, the municipality does not permit them to be cut down.
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Joined by another trustee, Rose Leong, the Bedford Place residents also highlighted the untidy park on Oxford Road, which they said posed a criminal danger, as potential criminals would seek shelter.
The City of Ekurhuleni was contacted for comment on February 2 and was required to provide comment by February 5. By the time of publication, no comment has been received.
