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High-speed project to fix Joburg's potholes

A high-speed project to fix Joburg's potholes, storm drains and traffic lights is underway, the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) said on Wednesday. “These issues are the ones that we have focused on, because their efficiency affects all motorists daily,” spokesman Thulani Makhubela told reporters in Joburg. He said the R77 million project would upgrade 200 major roads and intersections in 90 days. It began in July and was expected to finish in September. “This project will be separate from our normal repair work, and we have chosen certain major roads in Johannesburg because they are the ones that most people use and need the most work.” The agency aimed to close 17 000 potholes before the September deadline. JRA managing director Dudu Maseko said the project had already reconstructed over 10km of roads in Naledi, Soweto. “Our work is serious, because we don't just want to fix the potholes, we are going to make sure that they never come back,” she said.

The JRA also unveiled a “state of the art” vehicle that would capture and assess information about the condition of roads, and prevent future potholes. Maseko said upgrades to traffic lights would ensure they remained fully functional, even during power failures. “Here in South Africa we are trendsetters, and we are 'greening' our traffic lights,” she said. About 120 traffic lights would be backed up with uninterrupted power supplies, remote monitoring functions and power-saving LED lights. “In the event that all of those things fail, certain traffic lights will be equipped with solar panels to ensure that they are always working.” Makhubela said the JRA was not responsible for the supply of power to traffic lights, but had taken these steps to ensure the maintenance of lights would not require external help.

“When you laptop's battery dies, you don't call the manufacturer to complain, you call the people that supply the power that charges that battery. We are working hard to ensure that your traffic lights will always have power, so there would be no need to complain,” he said. The project would also focus on repairing storm water drainage on 15 major roads, and introducing a gravel roads “stabilisation program” in selected townships. “Roads are only a part of what we do... we carry about five million of you on more than 10 000km of road everyday,” Maseko said. “You are all our customers and we want to tell you that we are certain that the project will be successful.”

Source: iol.co.za

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High-speed project to fix Joburg's potholes

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