Coleraine Drive bridge still incomplete
SANDTON - The Johannesburg Roads Agency has failed to complete the reconstruction of the Coleraine Drive bridge in Riverclub on time.
The roads agency announced that the bridge would be completed by 15 December last year. “After numerous promises by the roads agency that the Coleraine Drive bridge would be complete on time, they have not been able to fulfil their commitment,” said Ward 103 councillor Vincent Earp.
He added that he was assured by Vusi Sikhakane of the roads agency that the project was still on track. “When no asphalt was laid on the road at the start of the last week of the deadline, I contacted the roads agency in frustration,” said Earp. “They informed me that they only needed to lay the asphalt and once laid they can open the road.”
Despite putting plastic covers over the ground at night to protect the soil from the rain, the soil was not ready to have asphalt laid. “If they laid the asphalt then, it would have started cracking and breaking up within a few months,” said Earp.
He is most upset that the roads agency never bothered to inform him or the residents about their problem. “They knew that they would be completing the bridge during our rainy season and should have taken precautions to ensure the surface remained dry,” added Earp.
Bertha Peters-Scheepers, spokesperson for the roads agency said they would resurface the road in early January this year as soon as optimum moisture content was achieved. “The road opening is now anticipated for the second week of January,” she said.
