Road works not only frustrate, but dangerous

Date: 09 April 2017 By: Isabel Venter

Not all motorists have welcomed the road works that are currently taking place on the Louis Trichardt/Thohoyandou road.

“The situation on that road is unacceptable,” remarked reverend Petrus Kriel from the Dutch Reformed Church in Levubu. “There is effectively no control at the road works. It is dangerous and I am going to bury people on the road,” said Kriel on Tuesday.

The contractors’ methods that they employ on the R524 (currently about 4km outside of Louis Trichardt) has got local motorists’ blood boiling. Their main concern is not so much waiting in line at the various stop-and-go points where road works are being done, but rather that there is apparently no proper control of traffic flow in these sections.

More than one reader, like Rev Kriel, complained about being let through the stop-and-go only to be confronted by oncoming traffic in a single lane. It would seem that road work employees are merely allowing people from both sides of the stop-and-go to drive through simultaneously. Kriel added that he also did not see any construction vehicle driving the route to see of the road is safe to allow motorists from the opposite side to drive through.

Other motorists complained that on some days the contractor is working on both traffic lanes simultaneously leaving motorist with no alternative route. There were some who had to drive through tar surfaces that were still sticky, causing considerable damage to their vehicle’s paint work.

As far as the newspaper could determine, road works started in January this year. The work is divided in two projects. The first, the R524 (Thohoyandou/Levubu road) is a SANRAL (South Africa National Roads Agency) project. Their contractor, Quality Plant Hire, is tasked with resurfacing the road from the N1 to Mahodlogwa (35.8km) and Section 2 from Basani to the Punda Maria Gate (34.6km). The contract period is scheduled for 8 months.

The second part of the project is handled by Penny Farthing Engineering SA (Pty) Ltd, who are responsible for the routine road maintenance of the R524 Section 1 and 2 two from Louis Trichardt to Punda Maria Gate. In addition, they will also be responsible for repairs on the R578 (Waterval/Elim road) from Louis Trichardt to Giyani and N1 section stretching from Louis Trichardt to the Beit Bridge Border Post. This project’s contract period is scheduled from 14 March 2016 to 13 March 2019.

After two weeks, the contractors had yet to respond to the Zoutpansberger’s media enquiries, referring the newspaper to SANRAL. Meropa Communications, who deals with the media on behalf of SANRAL, confirmed this week that they are still waiting on all the relevant project managers’ feedback before issuing a final statement.

In the meantime, the newspaper could determine that there is a claim procedure that motorists can follow if they suffer damages as a direct result of the current road works. Quality Plant Hire can be contacted on Tel. 072 682 1285 or 082 809 0988. Penny Farthing Engineering can be contacted at Tel. 079 216 6177.

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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