Bonnyvale and Orchards roads have been identified as two of the many roads in Benoni that are due for reconstruction.
According to the Ekurhuleni metro, there is a reconstruction programme through the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) process to alleviate the entire sand seal road in the agricultural roads.
The IDP is a process where municipalities prepare a strategic development plan for five years.
It includes the planning, budgeting, resource allocation and decision-making processes in the municipality.
It also includes the public participation process in which the public is consulted on the proposed plans of the metro.
Orchards Road
Over a year ago, one side of the road was dug up and had been left untarred; this is according to residents who travel the road every day.
Not only has it been a big inconvenience to constantly wipe down the counters due to the amount of dust that settles in their house, but it does also get dangerous during the rainy season as the water covers the potholes and motorists cannot dodge the long road of potholes that are only visible when the road is dry.
Residents have also highlighted that their car tyres constantly have slow punchers and they have to replace their CV joints.
Gadebe said the maintenance team wanted to resurface Orchards Roads, it was realised the road is due for reconstruction and it will be uneconomical to resurface it as there is no layer work underneath.
“The maintenance team will fix the road for a time being until it is constructed through the IDP process.”
He added that Ochards Road is a sand-seal road, no layer works underneath and the life span of the road is already expired as it was done for dust suppression for many years.
Bonnyvale Road
Resident Bridgett Adams said the state of the road had turned into a “death trap”.
“We have no tar on our road. No matter what vehicle you drive or how good (or bad) your driving skills are – you cannot miss the potholes as the entire road is made up of potholes of varying sizes and depths.
“Drivers are now attempting to try and drive on the pavement to avoid the road as much as they can. This is not safe for the drivers or pedestrians.”
She added that when there is no rain, they live with clouds of red dust permeating their homes, so much so that her mother-in-law has to wear a dust mask permanently even before Covid-19 hit.
“When it rains we take our lives into our own hands when leaving our homes as the road is so dangerous.
“The closest we came to resolving this issue was a meeting which was held in October last year, but since then we have had no feedback on what transpired at the meeting, what the plan moving forward is and since then we are ignored completely.”
Bridgett highlighted that the municipality cares even less, as long as people pay their rates for which they receive no service at all.
Gadebe said that a team will be sent out on December 10 to fix the potholes on the road, he added that the potholes were repaired in September 2019 and again on October 2019.
“Bonnyvale is due for reconstruction.
The councillor submitted it to IDP for reconstruction, but it was not funded.”
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