Gray Street: Curbing clients' enthusiasm

Update

KNYSNA NEWS - With the completion of Block 4 still on schedule for this month, amendments have been made to the curb along the road to allow for adequate access to off-street parking bays following complaints from business owners.

The Gray Street redevelopment has been in a perpetual state of reconstruction since the project started in February 2020, with numerous delays through the course of the past year.

When the project started, the aim was to have the road completed by April this year, but due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and wet conditions, the completion is only expected in July.

Now, in the month in which it was originally scheduled to be completed, work on the penultimate block on Gray Street, Block 4 between Rawson Street and Nelson Streets, is finally nearing the finish line.

Work on Block 4 commenced in mid-January, a month-and-a-half after the concurrent completion of Blocks 2 and 3, and now all that remains to be completed at Block 4 are the road surface and sidewalks.

The pavements and curbs are yet to be completed.

The sidewalks were a bone of contention for some, as business owner Frans Jordaan felt the contractors had not made adequate provision for road users to access off-street parking that some businesses have outside their storefronts.

"The stretch between Waterfront Drive and Rawson Street is complete, with low enough curbs to allow access to off-street," Jordaan said. "But, in the block between Rawson and Nelson Streets, there was no provision made for off-street access."

This led to Jordaan raising the issue with the contractors as well as the municipality, seeking to have amendments made to the curb. His efforts were not in vain. "The approved site layout has been amended to accommodate properties in terms of the rights given through the town planning approvals process and the contractor has been asked to implement amendments," said municipal spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhoudt.

Jordaan was relieved the municipality was willing to listen to his pleas. "It has begun to make the corrections on our block now, by lowering the curb, which means people will now be able to access our business premises."

The road surface is yet to be completed on Block 4.

Once the section between Main Road (N2) and Nelson Street (including the intersection) is closed off, the only way of accessing the taxi rank will be via the St George's Street access road off Main Road, opposite Memorial Square.