Pothole war is short-term fix

The City of Johannesburg has repaired 117 483 potholes over the past year as a quick-fix, but its long-term plan is to resurface old roads.

Yesterday, the city said these repairs were prioritised after torrential downpours between November 2016 and January 2017 damaged roads across the metro, causing potholes to proliferate.

Mayor Herman Mashaba, pictured, declared a “war on potholes” and committed an additional R88 million to fast-track the repair of road surfaces. The City said the 117 483 potholes repaired represented a significant increase of 26 945, or 22%, more pothole repairs compared to the previous period (2015-16).

Nonhlanhla Makhuba, member of the mayoral committee for transport, said this intervention had made an impact on the quality of roads and public safety, repairing potholes was a short-term fix.

The City of Johannesburg said in a statement that “resurfacing and/or reconstruction of roads remains the long-term solution to improving the overall condition of the road network”.

Johanesburg’s 13 428 kilometres of roads had not been sufficiently maintained for many years, the City added.

Makhuba said the City would gradually increase budgets to enable resurfacing or reconstructions over time.

Johannesburg Road Agency would soon release its latest study – a visual condition index of the state of the city’s roads.

“The study will explain whether the condition of Joburg roads is improving or deteriorating, project future road condition trends, determine maintenance and budgetary requirements, as well as inform prioritisation of maintenance projects.” – ANA