After three years Robyn Street finally sees some light
City Power has finally restored street lights on Robyn Street, nearly three years after a delivery truck damaged overhead cables, leaving residents in darkness and raising safety concerns.
Robyn Street in Jukskei Park is finally lit again after City Power completed long-outstanding repairs to street lights that were damaged nearly three years ago.
The outage, between Platina Road (outside Checkers Centre) and School Street, occurred on August 30, 2022, when a retrieval truck’s hook caught and damaged the overhead cables, plunging the stretch into darkness.
Despite repeated complaints and concerns from residents over safety and visibility at night, repairs were delayed for years.
Read more: City Power restores street lights after 8 months
Ward 115 councillor Mark van der Merwe confirmed that the repairs, which were completed on July 1, involved the replacement of three LED fittings, 200 metres of aerial bundled conductor (ABC) cable, three fuses, eight insulated piercing connectors (IPC), and five metres of trenching to restore the network fully.
Van der Merwe said he welcomed the completion of the repairs but emphasised the need for clarity on the delays. “It’s a hard one, as there was a third party that damaged the power lines for the street lights. I am not 100% sure, but in cases where traffic lights are knocked over, they sometimes lay in the road for months while the insurance companies sort out blame. Then, once the issue is settled, then repairs can take place. In this case, we would have to understand from City Power what took so long.
“I’m just happy that they are repaired for now. It seems like it was an extensive job that required a substantial number of materials to conclude the issue.”
Residents expressed relief that the previously dark stretch, which raised safety concerns for pedestrians and motorists, is now illuminated, making evening travel safer in the area.
Van der Merwe urged residents to continue reporting outages and infrastructure damage promptly to City Power to ensure accountability and quicker resolutions in future.
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