The city of Ekurhuleni announced the allocation of R285m towards repairing potholes.

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Executive Mayor Tania Campbell said during the launch of the pothole repair campaign that the city’s Department of Roads and Stormwater intends to patch 82 500 square metres of potholes by the end of the upcoming financial year.

“Over and above the recent budget adjustment, CoE also endorsed the non-governmental organisation, Better Bedfordview, and its campaign to patch potholes in the area,” said Campbell.

She said the decision to endorse the group forms part of the multi-party coalition government’s objective of developing a holistic infrastructure strategy that combines the imperatives of increased spending on maintenance, infrastructure renewal and leveraging private-public-partnerships to enhance service delivery in the city.

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Better Bedfordview member Zishaan Singh previously said that the normal way of repairing potholes would never last.

“Tar and concrete are wet products that will shrink when it dries and pulls away from the edge of the pothole and the road. When it rains the patch deteriorates again and the pothole reappears.”

He said the Better Bedfordview pothole repairs are done with G5 gravel, which is more easily compactable.

The gravel is mixed with a nano-modified polymer, which is water-resistant and would not shrink because it doesn’t need to dry.

“Once completed the pothole is covered with a waterproof patch. Some repairs have lasted more than four years.

“We as residents want 100% for this to succeed. There is proper science that goes into the repairs. It’s not just tar,” Singh said.

He added that restoring Bedfordview will have a knock-on effect on surrounding suburbs such as Edenvale and Germiston.

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Better Bedfordview pothole repairs take anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours to complete, depending on the condition of the road surface.

The CoE pothole repair project forms part of the city’s back-to-basics service delivery programme.

“The capital injection towards maintaining roads will boost investor confidence in the city and transform our roads into safe transport infrastructure routes for our residents to enjoy,” said Campbell.

The campaign will stretch across all regions of the city. Campbell urged residents to report potholes via the Ekurhuleni service delivery app or the city’s call centre.