Dozens of potholes have been filled in on the much-maligned Biggar Street North road in Glencoe. The road, that passes the Glencoe Prison, has deteriorated rapidly in recent years and the Courier has been inundated with calls for the surface to be repaired.
The new Council has weighed-in with the Technical Department dispatching a team that filled on over 2000 potholes, according to Rama Govender of the Technical Department.
He told the Courier that this was not a permanent solution and that the municipality would apply for Municipal Infrastructure Grant funding from the Government to re-surface the road at a cost of around R12-million.
With only a R1-million budgeted for slurry seal for Endumeni roads, the Technical Department is going to have its work cut out to spread the money.
Mayor, Richard Mbatha, said he hoped the Council would in future increase this maintenance budget as ‘the upgrading of our infrastructure is paramount’.
Lwazi Cindi, Technical Manager, said the municipality had already asked the Department of Transport to assist with upgrading the R68 and R33 routes which have been badly damaged by trucks.
He said he hoped to re-open negotiations with Buffalo Coal regarding the much-talked about alternative coal route.
Work is being done to attend to gravel roads in Thelaphi. There are also plans to fix the ‘huge potholes’ in the Avon industrial in Dundee which business owners have longed hoped for.
Councillor Callie Carlese said the municipality would build a bus shelter outside the Glencoe library to accommodate passengers using the Greyhound bus that stops twice a day in the town en route to Johannesburg and Durban.
He added that the Parks and Gardens Department will now remove garden waste and rubble from homes and residents wanting this service should contact the municipality for details.