Mbombela’s Dr Enos Mabuza Drive finally open after roadworks

Dr Enos Mabuza Drive is finally open and free of roadworks for the first time since the upgrades had begun in January 2020. The project to widen the road between the Johanna Drive intersection and the R40 was supposed to have been completed in 18 months, by October 2021, however, due to several delays including the moving of sensitive cables and heavy rain, the completion date was pushed forward all the way to 2022.

In February this year, the City of Mbombela’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said certain issues had caused a few delays and the 18-month contract with White Hazy Construction had been extended by 136 days.

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White Hazy Construction’s Japie Visser said the upgrades would have been completed a year ago if it had not been for the long wait for cables to be moved from underneath the road.

“We are done with the road and are busy with a few things like moving some of the road markings, but the road is completely open,” said Visser.

“The traffic lights have been ordered and are on the way. We are busy with the walkways and paving now,” he said.

“We could have been done much sooner, but we could not work on certain sections of the road until electric cables and Telkom cables were moved. Telkom took about 14 months to move the cables and the electric cables were moved over 18 months,” he said.

Visser added that the tropical storm Eloise had also created delays in 2021.

“We are not constructing speed bumps, as they are not allowed on any four-lane roads. We have created a raised pedestrian crossing as requested by the traffic department.”

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Traffic signalling, walkways and curbing, the road shoulders and the rehabilitation of the area still needs to be done. Visser said they are also busy with the paving, which will be a two-metre walkway that will feature guard railings for pedestrians.