As the restoration of South Road came to a near standstill during the past four years, motorists had no other option but to use alternative routes.
As the number of motorists using the stretch of Albertina Sisulu Road that runs past the Princess informal settlement has been declining rapidly, alternative roads have suffered the damage caused by the increased traffic volumes.
According to local resident Johan Basson, two of the severely affected roads are Reitz and Chaucer Avenues.
“Over the past three to four years these roads have carried a large number of vehicles, including heavy vehicles. They tend to use this route instead of Progress Road as a shortcut. This has left our streets in a terrible and basically undrivable state with many potholes, and even trenches left by some contractors,” he said.
“Motorists brake hard and swerve to miss these obstacles, and this poses a huge risk for pedestrians and other motorists. It is just a matter of time before people will lose their lives on these damaged sections of road.”
Since the streetlights are often out at night, Johan said motorists can be heard hitting one pothole after another. He went on to say that the traffic in the mornings and afternoons has increased exponentially since the closure of South Road, which weakened the road surface.
Even though he has reported the issue to JRA on numerous occasions, they have failed to attend to the matter as of yet.
Another resident, Stephanus Schoeman has also voiced his concern around the decaying state of the roads.
“Tarred surfaces deteriorated simultaneously, and together with high rainfall this season it has lead to several potholes forming, especially on roads that are busier than normal, such as Rothschild Road, Hazel, Pine and Jacaranda Streets, and possibly some others like Poplar Street, to name just a few,” he said.
“Other roads in and around the area have also been experiencing much higher traffic volumes due to recent and ongoing housing development. Trenches dug for installing cables are also of concern, since soil subsiding soon afterwards and tar surfacing not being done soon cause shallow trenches which motorists have to drive through over and above new potholes developing in Chaucer Street, which are increasing in diameter very quickly.”
JRA has been contacted for the comment on the matter but had yet to respond by the time the article was published.
