By the end of this year‚ users of the Johannesburg Road Agency mobile application “Find & Fix” could enjoy new features that improve the application’s interactivity. The app‚ launched in early 2014‚ currently enables road users to take a photo of a particular road issue‚ register its location using geo-tagging and notify the JRA.What the app does not cater for is a feedback report about the progress of the issue as well as the collective logging of issues of the same kind.Issues include potholes‚ missing manhole covers‚ weeds growing on the road‚ defective traffic signals and other urgent road-related infrastructural faults.“In future versions‚ people will actually be able to see what has been fixed‚” said Craig Heckrath of Intervate. These new features will also allow collective issues to be prioritized according to the number of individual reports they receive.Contractors will also be equipped with tablets in future that allow them to log resolved issues on the back end in order to notify app users as soon as an issue has been resolved.“Apart from saying ‘I’ve fixed it’ they will be able to post a photo and say ‘this is the job I’ve just done’‚” said Heckrath.According to Heckrath‚ it will guide contractors in the work they do by providing insight into just how many issues need attention in a specific area. The geo-tags will allow them to navigate to sites that need fixing.He compared the current process of logging to throwing something over a wall and not seeing where it lands.“With these innovations‚ the public gets a sense of what JRA is doing to resolve the issues‚” said Heckrath.The app has a pre-existing feature that he believes is currently not being used properly. The JRA fully intends to use this feature going forward to notify road users about why certain faults had not yet been fixed due to issues such as bitumen shortage or a lack of manhole covers.- This comes as the City of Johannesburg today began the roll out of its R365-million project to upgrade the Soweto Freeway‚ M1 and M2 highways to improve mobility on municipal roads.This is part of the City’s R110-billion infrastructure investment over 10 years that is also directed at changing the spatial design of the metropolitan in a bid to ease congestion and flooding on the city’s roads.In addition‚ R152-million has been earmarked for the construction and rehabilitation of bridges across the city. All these major projects are in line with the city’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040.Mayor Parks Tau said in a statement that a total of R1.4-billion has been budgeted to improve roads‚ storm water infrastructure and bridges in the 2015/2016 financial year.Acting Managing Director of the JRA‚ Mpho Kau‚ said that work on some of these bridges will result in possible road closures. “However‚ the end result will ensure that residents are ultimately able to travel to their destinations faster and more safely‚” he said.During recent inspections of 814 bridges in the city‚ which boast an asset value of R15-billion‚ the JRA found that some required rehabilitation such as upgrades‚ construction and expansion.These include the Oxford‚ Federation and Double-Decker bridges on the M1 freeway‚ where work will start in September.Work will also be carried out on the Nelson Mandela‚ Booysens Road‚ Queen Elizabeth and Le Roux Avenue bridges.In addition‚ R50-million has been allocated for the resurfacing of the M1 freeway‚ while R10-million will be spent on improvements to the M2 highway.Overall‚ R222-million will be spent this year on road resurfacing across the city.Work is also under way on the Naledi Bridge in Soweto‚ to link the communities of Naledi and Protea. Pedestrian and vehicular bridges in Soweto prone to flooding‚ including the Jabulani/Molapo‚ Kinini-Leselinyala‚ Zulu‚ Mzilikazi‚ Kaalfontein‚ Klipspruit West‚ Slovo Park and Diepsloot bridges‚ will all be raised above the flood line.A further nine bridges have been repaired and reconstructed at a cost R49.4 million after being damaged due to flooding last year. These include the culverts in Main Road in Riverbend Agricultural Holdings‚ Felstead Road in Northriding‚ Third Street in Chartwell‚ Watercombe Street in Farmall Agricultural Holdings‚ Niven Road in Douglasdale and Coleraine Drive in Sandton.Work on bridges in Cornelius Road over the Klein Jukskei River in Weltevreden Park‚ Ballyclare Drive over the Braamfontein Spruit in Bryanston and the Riverside Road Bridge in Ivory Park was also carried out...