Road users call for more to be done as potholes multiply
Residents are not impressed with the lack of urgency when it comes to potholes.
Potholes continue to multiply on the City’s roads, as the roads department is battling to secure enough roads maintenance funding to keep pace with the demand.
It appears the continuous summer rains have once again brought with it more problems on the roads – which were, according to road users, already deteriorating to a crisis point due to lack of maintenance.
However, according to the metro, more roads department teams are working on repairs to ensure smoother and safer roads, but the potholes just continue to multiply.
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The Advertiser asked the metro if it has developed any catch-up plan aimed at addressing the barrage of potholes, and the department said its catch-up plan entails a priority list of roads riddled with bad potholes, major roads in particular.
According to metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, as part of the plan, officials have conducted an oversight inspection to assess the extent of the problem in the City.
He said the department has since December repaired over 15 000m² to try to save the deteriorating network.
As previously reported that budget constraints had limited the number of repair work the municipality had been able to undertake, we asked whether plans had been made to find the money to tackle the pothole problem.
Dlamini said: “Yes, plans have been made, but approval is not granted as yet. It’s in progress for consideration.”
While officials blame underfunding and severe weather, including the widespread flooding, unconvinced residents said the severe weather only compounded the deterioration caused by decades of poor roads maintenance, with others calling for high-quality repairs to prevent the high rate of pothole recurrence in the same spots.
Meanwhile, ward councillors are calling on the government to free up money and invest it in resurfacing the road network.
Some businesses and individuals have taken matters into their own hands and resorted to funding the repairs of potholes in some areas.
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