Travelling on Winnie Mandela Drive on December 9 between 11:00 and 14:00 was extremely difficult for many motorists.
Roadworks backed traffic up quite drastically between Republic Road and Peter Place, where the Johannesburg Road Agency’s (JRA) infrastructure development department was upgrading signals, installing auxiliary power supply, as well as sandblasting to implement new road markings.
“This is not about the holiday period, but fixing defects and maintenance of our road infrastructure is the JRA’s mandate and is done any time of the year according to plans and needs,” said JRA spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers. “We cannot underestimate the fact that the holiday season has its traffic volume mainly from people who are in the city for holidays and are not familiar with our roads, hence the roads are made safer.”
Peters-Scheepers described the importance of routine roadworks of this nature.
“Defects need immediate attention as delays may cause more harm,” Peters-Scheepers said. “Sandblasting is best done over the weekend to avoid damaging vehicles; some of the work is best performed on weekends as there is not too much traffic from people going to work.”
Roadwork maintenance is mostly done from late morning to mid-afternoon. JRA Contractors are usually requested to work off-peak hours, between 09:00 and 15:00.
“The JRA would like to thank and apologise to all road users for their patience on our roads,” Peters-Scheepers concluded. “We are doing our best to assist. Also, I wish them a safe and joyous holiday season and New Year.”
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