Bedfordview Roads and Infrastructure crumbling under heavy vehicles

by Cllr. Jill Humphreys — DA Ward Councillor in Ekurhuleni

Date: 7 December 2023

Release: Immediate

Type: Media statement

The Democratic Alliance in Ekurhuleni have noted that the narrow peri-urban roads are being abused and damaged by the onset of enormous vehicles in our suburb. Despite signage and road marking on AG De Wit Drive, prohibiting entry onto Kloof for vehicles over 4t; these are ignored. Vehicles of this size simply cannot turn into or around our narrow roads; so they merrily smash over the kerbs and pavements.

The beleaguered Roads & Stormwater department simply does not have the funding or capacity to keep replacing these smashed storm drains and kerbs. Despite monumental efforts on the part of our community to tidy and fix where possible, it is not possible to keep up with this onslaught.

The EMPD does occasional ticketing operations, but nowhere near enough to curb this destructive force.

The obvious reason for this ever-increasing scourge is the collapse of the railways. Business is forced to transport everything by road. There is not enough space on our highways and they’re continuously blocked.

Bedfordview lies in the centre of one of the biggest and busiest highway intersections in the country. Giloolys Interchange. Frequent accidents and blockages are the order of the day; so the trucks exit the highway in the hope of a shortcut through suburbs.

However, the road networks through Bedfordview were not built to handle these vehicles. We will be calling on the Minister of Transport to intervene as well as the EMPD to increase their presence to curb this matter.

Cllr. Jill Humphreys

DA Ward Councillor in Ekurhuleni

082 450 0128