R210m facelift for Johannesburg roads and bridges

Written by Nonkululeko Mathebula

The City of Johannesburg is making it easier for people to travel in and around the city using world-class infrastructure.

The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), which falls under the City of Johannesburg, has embarked on massive construction and rehabilitation work on some roads and bridges to ensure that the city’s roads are accessible, safe and liveable. 

The R210 million Freeway Revitalisation Project, which kick-started in 2015, forms part of Johannesburg’s earmarking of more than R100 billion for strategic infrastructure over the next 10 years.

According to JRA’s Acting Managing Director Mpho Kau, the work done on the three bridges on the M1 freeway will result in short-term traffic disruptions but will have long-term benefits.   

“Roads and bridges form a critical part of the transport infrastructure of a growing city and as such, their maintenance and rehabilitation is important.

“It ensures that the movement of people as well as goods and services continues effectively and efficiently and this will in turn have a positive impact on local economic growth.”

While the work on the road is causing temporary inconvenience, Kau said the long-term benefits of a world-class M1 freeway and bridge network will far outweigh the current disruptions.

“The rehabilitation phase and the end result will ensure that residents are ultimately able to travel to their destinations faster and more safely,” said Kau.

The project is expected to run until the middle of next year.

Maintenance work aligned with the project includes structural repairs, asphalt surfacing, expansion joints, drainage systems as well as erecting new road signs. The M1 section of the freeway is a key arterial route that carries approximately 80 000 private cars, commercial traffic and public transport such as taxis and buses daily.

So far, the project has created 80 job
opportunities, 50 of which have been for local labourers.

Federation and Oxford bridges are also undergoing major facelifts and certain lanes on the freeway will be closed during construction and traffic will be diverted until next year. The iconic Double Decker section of the M1 between Carr and Anderson streets will also be affected.

These routes, including Louis Botha Avenue in Parktown, are but some of the arterial routes currently receiving upgrades. Nine other bridges damaged by heavy storms and flooding last year have already been repaired.

World-class infrastructure

Meanwhile, Johannesburg’s MMC for Transport Councillor Christine Walters said a world-class city must be served by world-class infrastructure.

“The upgrades we are doing will benefit Joburgers for decades to come and ensure safe movement of people, goods and services,” said Walters.

Speaking at the launch of the project last year, City of Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau said the infrastructure projects are in line with a holistic strategy to refurbish the city’s roads infrastructure.

“The upgrades on our roads infrastructure are part of our efforts to create a better future for our residents where we can link jobs to people and people to jobs in line with the objectives of our spatial transformation programme,” said Mayor Tau.

Plan your journey

As construction work continues to gain momentum, road-users are urged to familiarise themselves with the lane reductions, plan their journeys and to consider alternative routes.