It’s still delay after delay on Gray
Delays continue to hinder the Gray Street project in the Knysna CBD, with the latest coming in the form of "road layers being wet", according to Knysna Municipality. The redevelopment of Gray Street has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride since work started on the street in late February this year. The road has been subdivided into five blocks, each separated by an intersection, and work was halted and delayed significantly by the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown. A revised programme and timeline were announced for the project in early August, according to which Block 1 (Waterfront Drive to Gordon Street, excluding Gordon intersection) would be opened on 14 August; Block 2 (Gordon to Trotter Street, including both intersections) on 16 September; and Block 3 (Trotter to Rawson Street, excluding Rawson intersection) on 13 October, with the latter dependent on the progress on Block 2.
Delays ensued, and Block 1 was finally "completed" about a month ago with thoroughfare permitted on the section between Waterfront Drive and Gordon Street on 21
August, a week after it was scheduled to open. However, despite the opening of the block, it still needed a final layer of tar to actually complete it. This was only added last week. According to municipal spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhoudt, initially the plan was to resurface the three blocks simultaneously, but this did not quite work out. "It was the initial proposal, but due to damages suffered on Block 1, it was surfaced," he said. In the midst of the groundwork on Blocks 2 and 3, said Bezuidenhout, the decision was made to combine work on the two in order to speed up the process, meaning surfacing of both blocks would take place simultaneously. But again the project suffered delays. "Due to the road layers being wet the construction has slowed in order for the road to dry out," Bezuidenhoudt explained. He added that the contractor has not indicated a new completion date for Blocks 2 and 3 as "they are working one day at a time for the moment".
Block 4 (Rawson to Nelson Street, including Nelson intersection) has also been severely impacted by the delays, as work on it "will not commence until satisfactory progress has been made in Blocks 2 and
3", and work on Block 5 (Nelson Street to the Main Road) is similarly dependent on what transpires with Block 4, according to Bezuidenhoudt, who concluded, "The project team has a meeting at the end of the month where the contractor must submit his latest programme and once approved it will be made public again."