MOSSEL BAY NEWS - In case you were wondering about the scope and completion date of the upgrading of Marsh Street in town, Mossel Bay Advertiser put questions to the municipality to find out more about the upgrade.
Marsh Street is Mossel Bay's main road from the suburb of Da Nova, through the central business district, to The Point.
When will the Marsh Street upgrade be completed – the signs painted on the street, and so forth?
Road markings will be repainted for all intended purposes, the planned completion date being in June, which is the financial year end.
This can only be done once the volatiles contained in the asphalt have cured. If the road markings are repainted too soon, they will simply bleed, fade or crack.
Why was it decided to upgrade Marsh Street?
It is a Western Cape provincial government-subsidised main road, therefore a 80/20 funding principle for road maintenance (resealing and reconstructing) is applicable. There was a thorough pavement investigation, and so, endorsed by province, the type of treatment and surface to be placed was based on the findings of the investigation.
The project costs about R12 million (VAT inclusive). The cost to the municipality is R2 million and to provincial government, R10m.
Bayview Street in the CBD was closed for a period last year and repaired, but it is still rutted.
The texture of the newly-built section (phase one) is the specified standard for traction purposes to ensure road safety of motorists travelling up the steep incline.
Phase two of the construction (the rest of Bayview Street to the top) will take place later in 2024.
How does the tender system work? Henra is the contractor for the widening of Louis Fourie Road and also for the Marsh Street upgrade.
Marsh Street is a municipal tender and Louis Fourie Road, a provincial project and tender.
Each tender is evaluated separately and there is currently no regulatory requirement that prohibits awarding a tender to the same bidder on multiple contracts or even multiple entities, as in this case.
Mossel Bay Municipality tests the company’s capacity and capability to execute a project and Henra passed all the pre-qualification or functionality criteria to execute both projects.
It was pointed out by a KwaNonqaba resident that infrastructure in the townships, such as storm water drainage, needs work. He said that when it rains, there is sewage spillage on the streets. Also, parts of Asla are unnavigable for emergency services; they can’t get near to the houses. Would it have been better to spend money on this infrastructure?
Damage to infrastructure is a recurring problem, mostly due to interference or tampering.
A good example is sewer and storm water systems that become blocked due to foreign materials and objects being dumped into the systems.
Mossel Bay Municipality prides itself in service delivery and urges members of the public to use the various channels of communication with the municipality to register service delivery requests promptly.
These are: Calling the municipality switchboard and after hours call centre on 044 606 5000, sending an SMS to 44802, sending an email to admin@mosselbay. gov.za or using the Collab Citizen smartphone application (downloadable from Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Huawei App Gallery).
Law enforcement officials diligently do inspections and foot patrols to curb illegal land invasion and curb the construction of illegal structures.
In the December festive season, this unit did 722 patrols, resulting in numerous structures being demolished.
Structures are demolished by the municipality’s approved and appointed contractor. Fire, Rescue and Disaster Management showed innovation and adaptability in acquiring its new fire engine in 2023 that is much smaller than the existing vehicles in the fleet.
This was done to enable the fire service to access hard-to-reach, densely populated areas.
In the townships, potholes are repaired and tar is just put on top of the old tar, the KwaNonqaba resident has complained. The streets are not actually dug up. Marsh Street was dug up before new tar was laid.
The type of maintenance work in Marsh Street was specified by provincial government, which advocates high standards, especially in terms of resealing.
The specified standard requires removing the top layer of the road surface and then filling it with a modified asphalt layer that specifically takes the steep incline of Marsh Street into consideration, to prevent any damage to the road surface caused by heavy vehicles.
There are many areas and towns in the municipality’s jurisdiction, such as Brandwag, Friemersheim, Herbertsdale and so forth. How does the municipality prioritise road repairs?
The key drivers in road maintenance are giving consideration to economic activity in an area and the priority of the road/street in terms of the collection and distribution of people. The Mossel Bay municipal council adopted the Pavement Management System, whereby inspections are done every three to four years. Priorities can be highlighted through this system and seen to, depending on the available budget.
Mossel Bay Municipality’s staff in the Streets and Stormwater Department during their weekly meeting to discuss current and future projects. From left: Altus Eitner, Aphiwe Mxokozeli, Whitney Fredericks, Jean Cox, Solly Beyi and Ralph Dickson.
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