More light at the end of the Daspoort tunnel
“The maintenance of the Daspoort tunnel has been neglected for many years due to lack of funds. But this should not always be used as an excuse.”
Plans are in place to light up the Daspoort tunnel, west of the city.
All the light bulbs in the tunnel will be replaced, said DA ward councillor Frik van Wyk.
“The light in the tunnel is really bad,” he said.
“This makes visibility for motorists an issue and it becomes a safety hazard, especially because so many motorists make use of the tunnel on a daily basis.”
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He said the exact date on which this would be done was not yet clear, but he would keep residents updated.
“I have been sending in requests for months to the metro to have the lights replaced,” he said.
“It will be a great relief when this is finally done.”
During the light replacement the tunnel will be closed for a few hours, Van Wyk said.
The long-term plan was to replace all the lights in the tunnel with LED lights.
“Unfortunately, we currently do not have any LED lights in stock, which is why we are just going to replace the light bulbs for now,” he said.
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In August last year, Van Wyk made an attempt to have the railings replaced in the tunnel.
He previously said this was because the tunnel had been a safety hazard for pedestrians for many years.
“Some of the railings have been compromised by vandals for selling steel,” he previously said.
Van Wyk said upgrades to the Daspoort tunnel were important to him.
“The maintenance of the Daspoort tunnel has been neglected for many years due to lack of funds. But this should not always be used as an excuse,” he said.
“The safety of residents of Ward 55 comes first and therefore I will always apply pressure as far as safety is concerned.”
ALSO READ: NEWSFLASH: Man dies after motorbike accident in Daspoort Tunnel
The Ollie Deneyschen tunnel, commonly called the Daspoort tunnel, was built in 1972 to connect Claremont to Danville after a sympathetic councillor noticed that Iscor workers in Hercules had to travel a long distance to work.
Construction of the tunnel took 40 months, and cost R1.7 million. It was opened on 10 August 1972 by the then mayor of Pretoria, GJ Malherbe.
It is 573m long, 11.6m wide, 7.5m high in the middle and 13.6m high at the ends, and has a capacity of 6 000 vehicles a day.
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