The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Council Herman Mashaba will officially reopen the M2 highway in Johannesburg on 24 October 2019 after it was closed for eight months.
The highway was closed between the Crown Interchange and Maritzburg Street for maintenance after the City found severe structural problems early this year.
This affected traffic flow and hundreds of motorists who drive into the City used alternative routes.
Mayor Mashaba revealed this during Region B blitz aimed at cleaning, repainting and repairing Joburg roads as part of Transport month.
Dressed in orange, blue overalls and safety boots, the mayor and Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Transport, Cllr Nonhlanhla Makhuba, took to the streets of Strijdompark, Randburg, to repaint and repair roads before rainy season.
The blitz, organised by Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), was also joined by officials from City of Joburg and its entities who rolled up their sleeves and cleaned the roads.
Mayor Mashaba said this formed part of ongoing service delivery projects to the people of Joburg to address road repairs backlog.
“We are working very hard as a City to make sure that our roads are ready for the rainy season. We acknowledge that there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done in our roads,” he said.
Cllr Makhuba said among the many challenges the JRA was facing was an increase in the number of petitions from Region B, the most being for traffic-calming measures.
“We have to come up with creative ways of addressing drivers’ behaviour. Speed humps are not the solution. In the past financial year, over R10 million budget that was allocated for calming measures in response to petitions,” she added.
“The blitz came at the right time for Region B after many streets have been resurfaced and needed to be marked. This will assist motorists as it is not easy to drive on unmarked roads,” said JRA Acting Managing Director Siyabonga Nodu.
October is Transport Month in South Africa. It is used to raise awareness about the important role of transport in the economy and to encourage participation from pedestrians, commuters, civil society and business.
Written by Takalani Sioga
