Vandalism of road infrastructure along the N2 is dramatically impacting on the R43 million project’s budget and the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) is urgently appealing to residents of townships and other role players in and around George to assist in putting a stop to this.

Part of the 2m high welded mesh fence erected along the N2, separating pedestrian pathways from the freeway, has been damaged and will need to be replaced. This impacts a total of seven subcontractors which have been appointed to carry out different aspects of work. The destruction of fences also allows stray animals to gain access to the freeway, potentially causing fatal accidents, reports Sanral.

Purpose-built walkways, which stretch over a distance of roughly 8 km along the N2 between the York Street Interchange and the Garden Route Mall, are designed to provide safe access for residents of Thembalethu, Pacaltsdorp, Lawaaikamp and Ballotsview along the N2 corridor and to provide safe movement for pedestrians.

“It is a well-known fact that approximately 40% of all deaths on South African roads are pedestrians. They are the most vulnerable group of all road users and road safety is an important priority for SANRAL,” comments Kobus van der Walt, SANRAL Regional Manager, Western Region.

“The deliberate and wilful destruction of the network jeopardises not only the safety of pedestrians from the various communities which it is designed to assist but also the livelihood of a number of workers on the project.”

Also damaged are the electrics housed in concrete poles on which 177 energy efficient LED lights will be mounted along the pathways enabling pedestrians to move safely at night.

A key feature of the project is a new pedestrian bridge which has been constructed alongside the N2 providing access for pedestrians and cyclists to move safely across the railway line at Meul River. The bridge has also been damaged with fire, burning the rubber bridge bearings.

Van der Walt says the targeted spend on SMMEs working on the project amounts to R24.3 million, with a targeted labour spend of R12.2 million. Key elements of the project use locally sourced labour. At any given time approximately 210 workers are busy laying bricks, building walkways and erecting fences.

Van der Walt says the rolling terrain makes the project more amenable to labour enhanced construction as heavy construction vehicles cannot operate in these conditions. This necessitates the use of manual labour to build the pathways on the steep slopes.

“This project has the added advantage of providing employment to a greater number of people from the George area,” he says.

“I’m appealing to leaders of the local community to help put a stop to the vandalism of infrastructure which has been designed to better the lives of those living in the George area,” concludes van der Walt.