A motion to develop dual traffic lanes on two main roads in Birch Acres was put forward by DA PR councillor for ward 13, Allan Sauls, at last week’s council meeting.
According to Sauls, Kwartel Road and Pongolarivier Drive were initially designed to be dual traffic lane roads and since they are not, have presented a number of challenges for the area, including storm water management and traffic congestion.
“The motion, motivated by myself, focused on the fact that road design for both roads had always meant to have two lanes and the underdeveloped road reserve presents a number of challenges to residential properties like storm water management and traffic congestion,” Sauls said.
“The traffic congestion is caused by an increase in residential property development, which in turn increases the number of people who use the roads every day. This has also led to minibus taxis using the road reserve, especially along Kwartel, as a way of avoiding the traffic congestion and as a result, cause even more congestion.”
According to Sauls, this has also resulted in a number of residents who live on these two roads struggle on a daily basis to exit their homes during early morning congestion.
During the meeting, MMC for Roads and Transport, Clr Thumbu Mahlangu, referred the motion to the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the 2015/2016 financial year. He gave the assurance that the design and planning for the development and construction of the dual lanes on both roads would be funded during the 2015/2016.
“The IDP feeds the financial budget for the financial year 2015/2016. With this in mind, developing the dual roads will become a reality once prioritised in the IDP for the financial year 2015/2016. The IDP is fed with community priorities and in November all these priorities are taken in for consideration and placed on a multi-year budget, which would cover 2015/16/17.
“Roads are an essential part of service delivery for motorists and those using public transport. Ekurhuleni metro has the responsibility of ensuring that assets meant to benefit communities are operational and kept in good condition,” Sauls concluded.
