JRA ‘rips up’ pavement
MIDRAND - A resident, Catherine Smyth, has told Midrand Reporter about what appears to be unnecessary work done on a road in Midrand.
She said, “I am mystified about Johannesburg Roads Agency’s decision to rip [up] a perfectly good and paved sidewalk and replace it with the same bricks.”
She said the puzzling road work was done, by the agency over the last few weeks, on a two kilometre stretch on New Road and 7th Road. Smyth called the repairs ‘a shameful waste of resources, having to redo something that did not need to be redone when there are so many bad roads to be fixed.’
Asked about the pavement, the agency’s spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers said the section of New Road from 7th Road to just beyond Darlington Road was identified by a Traffic Impact study to be dualled in order to support a Sagewood Extension 12 development.
She explained, “A developer was responsible for constructing the sidewalk, and the roads agency conducted an inspection to see if the work done was in-line with approved designs and standards.”
She revealed that, upon inspection, the agency found that the pavement was of sub-standard quality and they could not commit to taking over that section of the road.
Peters-Scheepers said not before long, the pavement began showing signs of wear and tear such as sagging and depressions. The agency and an engineer did a site investigation and began corrective work, which required ripping up the pavement and reconstructing it.
The agency stated that it was “normal” to rectify a defect and that the developer is financing all the repairs.
