Damaged manhole creates traffic hazard on Edenvale road

Motorists travelling along Van Riebeeck Avenue towards the R24 face a road obstruction at one of Edenvale’s busiest intersections.

Located at the corner of Van Riebeeck Avenue and Second Street, a yellow barrier marks a manhole belonging to a fibre company, whose support structure collapsed to form a hole.

The obstruction has closed the left lane towards the R24, forcing motorists to merge into the right lane or swerve at the last minute.

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According to Ward 18 committee member Lisa Atkins, the issue is related to fibre installation conducted by Openserve.

Atkins said she reported the matter to the company on more than one occasion when she first started noticing the area around the manhole degrading at the end of August.

She said she noticed the surface of the road deteriorating and crumbling.

Both Ward 18 Ald Heather Hart and Atkins said the site posed a great hazard to motorists, turning a busy two-lane road into a single lane.

“As the hole started forming, it became more of a hazard; I had to contact the Roads depot and plead with them to get some safety precautions for the site.

“After working together with staff from the depot, a yellow jersey barrier was found and placed in the intersection to warn motorists,” said Atkins.

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Atkins said in many instances when fibre has been installed in town, the rehabilitation of the work site is often substandard.

“There should have been dedicated channels installed when fibre was first being installed in town.

“This would prevent the need for fibre companies to keep on digging up and affecting the roads in Edenvale,” said Atkins.

According to Hart, wayleaves were originally meant to be signed off by local councillors and depot maintenance managers once jobs were completed and before companies were allowed to leave the site.

However, Hart said that never happened in the 15 years she has been a councillor.

“The Edenvale Roads Depot used to do road implementation and maintenance; however, now the depot just conducts maintenance.

“So whenever anyone digs up, be it municipal services or anyone else, the Roads Department should be all over those services,” explained Hart.

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She said if the Water and Sanitation Department were to repair a leak on a road, the Roads Department would need to apply pressure on them to ensure that road is rehabilitated.

Hart said although this is the case presently, there are calls to have the responsibility of repairing roads handed back to the Roads Department instead of using contractors.

Requests for comment were sent to Openserve, its parent company Telkom, and the City of Ekurhuleni on October 14, requesting a response by October 16 at 15:00.

The three entities were questioned whether they were responsible for the manhole in question and, as such, whether they were aware of the existing damage.

They were also asked what could have caused the damage at the site, whether they were responsible for repairing the damage, and why no action had been taken to repair the damage.