NATIONAL NEWS - Good progress is being made on a Department of Infrastructure (DOI) project to repair flood damage on five roads in the Garden Route District, according to Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure, Tertuis Simmers.
Major repairs are being done on a 10 km stretch of Main Road (MR) 355, also known as the Seven Passes Road, between George and Knysna.
Repairs are also underway on DR (District Road) 1602 (Jonkersberg), DR6133 and DR1639 near George, as well as DR1602 near Plettenberg Bay.
“If all goes according to plan, the project is expected to be complete by mid-2027. Portions of Seven Passes Road (MR355) under repair are active construction sites and are closed until the project is complete. This is for safety reasons, and also to mitigate the risk that damaged portions of the road completely fail. If the road fails, the Seven Passes Road will have to be closed for an indefinite period,” said Jandré Bakker, DOI Director for Operational Support.
“It remains the aim of the project team to, when possible, open the roads but under traffic accommodation, often referred to as stop-and-go points. This will not be on a scheduled basis and may be closed without prior notice so road users should consider this road completely closed until the project is completed. Should the situation change, a formal announcement will be made by,” he continued.
Provincial Minister Tertuis Simmers added, “Certain motorists have been ignoring the road closure signs on Seven Passes Road. This is unlawful. Hard barriers and closures may be put in place where there are road closures.
This is, however, a last resort because the contractors require access for construction processes, and this impedes the speed of construction. Motorists who unlawfully ignore road closure signs are creating unnecessary risks. They are further impacting the ultimate timeline of the project. We will not hesitate to do a hard closure should road users, which include cyclists and pedestrians, continue to unlawfully use the closed sections.”
So far, works on MR355 have included the building of retaining walls, piled foundations and concrete decks, and road and pavement layer works. Works currently underway on MR355 include replacing five culverts, replacing pipes with larger ones, repairing road slips in seven locations, and repairing the balustrades of two bridges. Causeways that failed are currently being replaced on DR1633, DR1639 and DR1791. A new bridge is being built on DR1602 to replace a low water structure that failed.
Minister Simmers said, “it is envisaged that this project will create 11 500 person-days of work and 135 work opportunities, and six local enterprises will be subcontracted to perform repair work.”
Bakker added, “R17.7 million will be spent on procurement from targeted enterprises on this project. By the time these repairs are complete, we expect to have invested a total of R61 million in the Garden Route District on these flood-related repairs”.
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