Repairs on Progress Road to begin following six weeks of behind the scenes work
After six weeks of behind the scenes scheduling and planning, the repairs of a large pothole on Progress Road in Grobler Park can finally commence.
Residents and motorists have become accustomed to a lack of infrastructure maintenance and severe repair delays from the various City of Johannesburg entities.
However, what a lot of people do not take into consideration is the behind the scenes work and processes that go into some repairs.
A large pothole in the dip of Progress Road in Grobler Park is the perfect example of a repair which seems simple, but in actual fact takes a lot of organisation and planning. The pothole seems to have been caused by water damage from a sewage leak near the road.
Ward 71 councillor, René Benjamin first reported the sewage leak to Joburg Water (JW) and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) approximately six weeks ago. When Joburg Water arrived at the site to assess the severity of the leak, they discovered a hoard of illegal connections from the informal settlement that were running underneath the sewerage system and into the veld beside the road.
This meant that, for the safety of everyone involved, JW would need to contact City Power to remove the connections before any repairs could be done on the sewerage system. This presented even more delays because the power entity would need police assistance to remove the connections as it can rile up the people in the informal settlements.
Finding a moment when JRA, Joburg Water, JMPD, and City Power could all be on site at the same time caused even more delays. Thankfully, repair work has now begun. City Power, accompanied by JMPD, removed the illegal connections on Wednesday, 13 January. City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, confirmed that the illegal connections were not only running around the JW pipes, but were also inside them.
On the same day, Joburg Water attended to the sewage leak which has now been repaired. All that remains is for JRA to fix the road, however, the entity needs to wait for the damaged piece of the road and the area around it to be completely dry before they can attempt any repairs.
JRA contractors were on site on the morning of Thursday, 14 January to assess the road further and come up with a plan and date for repairs; a plan which they said would be forwarded to the ward councillor.
JRA has been approached for information regarding their findings and an expected repair date, but by the time of publication an answer had not been received. The Record will update its readers as soon as this information is forthcoming.
