Maintenance for west tunnel ‘soon’
Overall maintenance of the Daspoort tunnel in the west of Pretoria would 'soon' receive attention.
A faulty extraction fan at the Daspoort tunnel in the west of Pretoria will be repaired soon, according to a local ward councillor.
“I have reported the problem to the relevant officials,” said ward councillor Frik van Wyk.
“I expect it will receive quick attention.”
Van Wyk also discussed other maintenance issues with Rekord.
“The cleaning of the tunnel must be done regularly, which is why I will also address this at a meeting next week with the executive head.”
Van Wyk said the maintenance of the tunnel was the responsibility of the department of housing.
“The maintenance of the tunnel is conducted by them,” he said.
“This is why the faulty lights in the tunnel are not reported to the metro as regular streetlights would.”
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Residents in the area said they had mixed feelings about the state of the tunnel.
Resident Charmaine Harmse said she felt that nobody cared about what was going on inside the tunnel.
“I do not know how long it’s been since the extractor fan worked – it’s probably been years,” she said.
“During peak time traffic, it is literally black inside the tunnel because of all the fumes.”
“If you stand outside the tunnel, you can see the smoke come out.”
Another resident, Johan Cloete, said the overall state of the tunnel was “not bad”.
“The lights that were replaced made a big difference,” he said.
“Yes, there is garbage in the tunnel, but that was more than likely dumped there by pedestrians.”
Van Wyk said he had not received a complaint about the fan before Rekord brought it to his attention.
He then immediately reported it to the metro.
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He added that the faulty fan was largely a result of cable theft.
“The fumes are really unbearable and I wonder what the longer after effects of inhaling those fumes would be,” Harmse said.
“What about the old people, children and babies who use the tunnel each day?”
Harmse said visibility inside the tunnel was also poor because of bad lighting.
Van Wyk said several lights in the tunnel had already been replaced with LED lights.
“The couple of lights that were already replaced was done as a test by the department to see if it would make a difference,” he said.
“They were happy with the results of the test and would replace the existing lights with LED lights.”
However, Van Wyk said a date on which the lights would be replaced had yet to be confirmed.
He said the tunnel roof had 75 lights and the tube lights were on the side.
Van Wyk said the LED lights were bright enough that there was no need for tube lights.
He said the LED lights cost around R4 000 each.
He said other changes also needed to be made in the tunnel.
“I think that a speed restriction of 40 km/h needs to be implemented instead of the current 60 km/h,” he said.
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“The pedestrian railings should also be painted a brighter colour.”
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