Neglected roadworks negate DA claims

WHEN subjected to scrutiny, the DA’s boast that it “gets things done” does not pass muster in respect of the neglected roadworks on the M7.

The intersection of Titren Road with the M7 at Southway Mall has been a traffic nightmare for the best part of two years. Yet behind the concrete barriers that have reduced this three-lane carriageway to a single lane, no roadworks are being carried out.

Daily huge volumes of traffic converging on the port or heading inland are compelled to queue up and squeeze through the single-lane aperture at the intersection.

Significantly, however, that intersection is the confluence of three DA wards – 64, 65 and 33. Why have those respective DA councillors not prevailed on eThekwini Roads Department to complete the job they started and return normality to that intersection?

Similarly, the overpass which used to take M7 traffic from the Bluff on to Umbilo Road has been blocked off since August 2020, forcing traffic to use a minor slip road on to Sarnia Road where there is no traffic signal. Meanwhile, the overpass lies abandoned and flourishing in weeds. Sarnia Road is part of ward 64. What has the ward 64 DA councillor done about getting the overpass back in use or, in the interim, at least having a traffic signal installed so as to regulate traffic flow into Sarnia Road from the M7? The reality about claiming to “get things done” is that it depends on the personal initiative and endeavour of the councillor and has nothing to do with party affiliation. DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff