Resident questions JRA decision to fix some roads
SYDENHAM – “How does the City justify spending millions on a perfectly good 800m of road while not having the money or infrastructure to fix the thousands of potholes?” asked Wijtenburg.
Sydenham resident Max Wijtenburg is perplexed by Johannesburg Road Agency’s (JRA) action of repairing roads which he believed do not require maintenance.
Wijtenburg was initially confused when he saw contractors upgrading an 800m section of Oxford Road between the intersection of Cotswald Drive and North Avenue, Riviera, while the final section of 300m to Riviera Road was left untouched.
“How does the City justify spending millions on a perfectly good 800m of road while not having the money or infrastructure to fix the thousands of potholes?” asked Wijtenburg.
“For the past 30 years, I have been a daily user of Oxford Road, driving from Rosebank all the way to Braamfontein. Apart from the occasional pothole, Oxford has been an excellent road.”
He said again, about a month ago, contractors began work on 13th Avenue, Sydenham, marking out with silver paint, hairline cracks in the surface of the road. He said the contractors then dug out the demarcated areas with a jackhammer to the depth of about 150cm.
“All the beautiful concrete stones that make up the foundation were removed and dumped. The new, soft tar was put into the holes and finished off with a mechanical roller.”
Wijtenburg claimed that this road had no potholes. He and his wife walked along 13th Avenue on a daily basis and found no issue with the road.
“As a ratepayer, I would love to get some explanations. I would love to know why private enterprise has to bring in a solution to fix 40 000 Joburg potholes whilst the JRA is digging up perfectly good and solid roads. This is insane.”
Operations manager at JRA Puleng Mokgohloa said, “The road may have usually looked to be in good condition to a layman, however, the decision to maintain the road is based on engineering judgement.”
Mokgohloa explained that roads were assessed on three aspects in line with the Technical Method of Highway (TMH 9), namely: surfacing, structural and functional.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong in maintaining a road deemed to be in good condition. That is part of preventive maintenance to avoid being reactive.”
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