Over 350 Glencoe residents have signed a petition to ask the KZN Transport to rehabilitate the much-maligned South Ridge Road that is the main entrance to the town from the Sunset Rest road, the R68.
While the municipality routinely fills in the many potholes that dot South Ridge Road, that passes the Glencoe Prison, local Councillor, Dr Sandy Bedassi, remarked that with the many heavy vehicle and school buses using the route, the temporary repairs are soon washed away.
“With the rainy season hopefully just around the corner, the road’s condition will continue to deteriorate,” he said. Fed-up residents and business people gathered on Friday on South Ridge Road to show the petition to the Courier and then pass it on to the local Transport Department offices.
“The maintenance of this road is the competency of the Transport Department, not the municipality, although the local Technical Department helps out where they can. What is needed is a complete re-construction,” Dr Bedassi said, adding that he was aware of the municipality’s Technical Department alerting the Transport Department of the concerns of motorists.

Businessman, Andrew Meli, said more signage was needed at the testing station intersection outside Dundee to inform visitors that Durban and Ladysmith can be reached via Glencoe.
“Many people who are from out of town do not realise that and end up travelling the long way round via Sunset Rest to Ladysmith and ultimately Pietermaritzburg or Durban.” He also wants signage to be put up near the bridge on the Dundee/Glencoe road to inform motorists that Glencoe town is ‘also on the map’. “We lose out a lot because of the bypass,” he remarked.
Fellow businessman, Willie du Plessis, said as well as South Ridge Road, the Transport Department should also carry out urgent repairs to the ‘crippled’ Dundee/Glencoe road. “That section of road near the railway bridge is terribly dangerous. The heavy trucks have caused ridges on the road that is now concave and this will make for extremely hazardous driving conditions in wet weather. That road is already known as a death trap because of all the fatal accidents that have happened there.”
The Courier has passed on the concerns to the KZN Transport and their response will be published as soon as it becomes available.