Johannesburg's M2 bridge to be closed for structural repairs
The M2 motorway between Crown Interchange and Maritzburg Street will be closed from Thursday February 28, to allow for bridge rehabilitation to resume, City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba announced on Monday.
The motorway will remain completely closed until the end of October this year.
Mashaba told a news briefing that the M2 eastbound was closed last year in October and it had just been established that the westbound infrastructure had shifted, so now the motorway had been completely shut.
Motorists using the busy Booysens, Main Reef, Simmonds and Heidelburg routes are among those who will be affected, as the on-ramps will be closed.
This comes after Mashaba raised concerns last year over the stability of the Karzene and Selby sections of the M2 bridge, which posed a threat to road users. The Kaserne bridge has been closed since last year due to major cracks.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) previously flagged its concern that of the 902 bridges managed by the city, only 6% were in good condition.
It said the remaining 94% needed immediate intervention.
A staggering R6.5bn is needed to refurbish all the city's bridges - money the city does not have, according to Mashaba.
TimesLIVE reported last year that the city was facing an overall R170bn infrastructure backlog and that the bridges on the M2 were of particular concern.
The Executive Mayor @HermanMashaba along with @MyJRA team just found people that live under the bridge and they have found signs of vandalism and theft on the bridge. #M2FullClosure ^LM pic.twitter.com/hjxOmJN4hc
— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) February 18, 2019
Motorists are advised to make alternative travel plans. East bound traffic travelling towards Germiston from the west, keep travelling on the N1 make use of the N12 and N3 to access areas to the east of the City. #M2FullClosure @CityofJoburgZA @CoJTransport
— Joburg Roads Agency (@MyJRA) February 18, 2019
We are currently at Selby bridge doing a walk about inspecting the state of the bridge, which has serve cracks that are getting worse and are widening making it unsafe to use. #M2FullClosure @CityofJoburgZA @CoJTransport pic.twitter.com/sk5U3oNfpx
— Joburg Roads Agency (@MyJRA) February 18, 2019