'The road needs an upgrade, not patch-ups': Randpark Ridge resident lobbies for 'a real fix'

CR Swart Drive in the northern Johannesburg suburb of Randpark Ridge is one of many roads a motorist who started a petition believes needs to be upgraded rather than the potholes fixed.

Riddled with potholes, Philip Meyer believes the road will never be repaired but needs to be resurfaced.

“I have been a resident in this area for around 10 years now and since I have lived here, CR Swart has remained a problem,” he said, adding the road was not intended to handle the volume of traffic it does.

With the number of schools and development of high-density estates, the road gets busier each year.

“There is no stormwater drainage on the road, so when it rains heavily, the road floods and the side of the road washes away as it is on a downhill,” he said.

Meyer believes the road hasn’t been resurfaced since it was built. “Potholes keep forming every time it rains and these take weeks to months to repair.”

During the rainy season, drivers have to take “dangerous evasive action to avoid potholes”.

“I have personally stopped a number of times at night to assist a lady or elderly drivers who have hit these potholes and damaged their cars,” he said.

Meyer said that while the Johannesburg Roads Agency does intermittently fill the potholes, when it rains they form again.

Out of frustration, Meyer initiated a petition last year to force the city to resurface the road. 

He submitted the petition, which garnered 2,113 signatures, to the local ward councillor, but was advised to submit it when the integrated development plan meeting is held in the area.  

Meyer said the road remains dangerous and in desperate need of an upgrade.  

“The road needs to be widened to two lanes, needs proper drainage and sidewalks. At a minimum, at least resurface the whole of the existing road,” he said. 

Meyer’s complaint is echoed by Rory Keenan, an estate agent in the Randburg area. 

At one point Keenan, clad in a dinosaur mascot costume, cast a fishing rod into one of the potholes to highlight the problem. 

He said the state of many roads in the Randburg area was worsening.  

“The roads are in terrible condition. Continuous temporary patchwork only makes for uneven bumpy surfaces. It only takes one rainfall and the patchwork starts coming apart again.

“The money wasted on repeated patchwork could be spent on resurfacing,” he said.

JRA spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers said the entity will inspect CR Swart road this month to determine a response plan. 

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