Johannesburg Road Agency respond to Cypress Road surface complaints

In the January 13 edition, the Northsider highlighted the difficulties Cypress Road residents have had over the last two decades with the dirt road.

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Following publication, the road was graded and smoothed, but residents are still insistent on a long term solution. Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) Senior Manager and Spokesperson, Bertha Peters-Scheepers responded, stating, “JRA is aware of the condition of Cypress Road. The majority of residents want roads in their agricultural areas to remain gravel with proper maintenance and JRA does regularly grade and re-gravel Cypress Road as per our schedule.”

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“Should the residents wish to upgrade the gravel roads to surfaced roads within agricultural areas such as Zonnehoewe, they will need to submit a majority resident petition for consideration. Currently, JRA does not have any plans or any budget allocated to the upgrade to surfaced roads within Zonnehoewe. We also cannot find any 2005 IDP commitment to retar the road,” she continued.

Suggesting increased private participating, Peters-Scheepers concluded, “In addition, wherever densification is taking place, the City relies on developers to properly construct roads to align with the increased traffic demands to be addressed on these roads.”