MOSSEL BAY NEWS - At a public meeting in Dana Bay last week, concerned residents had several questions about the emergency road that had been promised.
The assurance was given that council was busy with the planning and other work on the emergency road, which will join the N2 as a well-constructed gravel road with access control, bearing in mind that community safety remains a priority.
Following the meeting, which was attended by senior municipal staffers, including the acting municipal manager, Colin Puren, the Mossel Bay Municipality has given feedback to the Mossel Bay Advertiser.
"In 2018, the Mossel Bay Municipal Council asked the municipality to commence with the planning for the emergency access road that was requested by the Dana Bay residents.
"The planning included, among other things, the feasibility studies and obtaining the necessary funding, negotiations with the private landowners and SANRAL, as well as the determining of the road alignment," read a statement from Puren.
It continues that, after a thorough public participation process during which residents could vote electronically for either of the two options, council began the processes to extend Flora Road to the Herbertsdale junction on the N2.
"The road masterplan indicates two roads as a future planned road network link. The council's approved spatial development framework, dated May 2018, recognises the road masterplan and indicates the future alignment of these and other roads.
"Residents must please realise that the interests of various entities, including Mossel Bay Municipality, SANRAL, and the private landowner, must be taken into account in the planning phase. Also, environmental impact analyses are usually time consuming, yet the project cannot be concluded without them."
The critical item at this stage, according to the municipality, is the environmental approval. This will likely be issued by April 2022, barring any unforeseen issues. The project designs, land expropriation and SANRAL approvals are all in process and are programmed to be completed at the same time. The land expropriation, subdivision, and rezoning are currently in progress. The tender for this project will follow once all of these processes are completed.
An amount of R13 million has been approved on the capital programme for the construction of the road.
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