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THE extension of Restitution Avenue and the upgrade of Glen Hurd Drive is well underway.
In February this year, the PE Express reported that Restitution Avenue in Fairview would finally be completed and link to the Glen Hurd Drive, also known as the Third Avenue dip, in Newton Park.
After the initial report stating that the construction would start within three weeks, there was a considerable delay due to the environmental impact assessment not having been received. Since then the construction is well underway and should be complete by December.
For years, the Restitution Road ended abruptly ended underneath the William Moffett Expressway bridge and there was no budget for the municipality to complete it until now.
The extension into the Glen Hurd Drive is set to alleviate traffic congestion in the dip as well as on the William Moffett Expressway.
The Restitution extension and Glen Hurd upgrade will be done in two phases, with phase one currently entailing the building and linking of the two roads. The cost of phase one is an estimated R13 million.
The second phase of the project will involve building a bridge parallel to the dip. The commencement of second phase will only be considered in the next financial year.
At the beginning of the project Ward 6 Councillor Morné Steyn assured road users and residents that the construction process would have no effect on the traffic flow on Glen Hurd Drive.
Current plans show that Glen Hurd Drive would be upgraded and there would be no link onto Alan Drive, making the section from the “dip” which links to the homeowners in Mangold Park, obsolete.
Other newspaper reports, stating that the residents of Glen Hurd suburb would have no direct access to the dip when the project is complete, caused outrage among these residents.
Steyn said his Ward 6 office was inundated with calls from concerned residents.
“There had been some confusion as my office had been told by the contractor that there would be no closure of Glen Hurd Drive to residents. We held a meeting to clear any confusion,” said Steyn.
The meeting held on July 31 where the progress of the project was discussed with residents of Mangold Park and Walmer Downs. Councillor Steyn was joined by the Member of Mayoral Committee of Budget and Treasury, Retief Odendaal – the former councillor of the ward.
“The outcome of the meeting was that opinions differed about the closure of the current access to Glen Hurd. The current plan however makes provision for the fact that access would be closed off.”
At the meeting residents were given the opportunity to suggest solutions for this issue.
Some of the suggestions made by the residents include: having a slipway for residents leading into Alan Drive from the 3rd Avenue dip; constructing a traffic circle, allowing motorists to access Alan Drive from the Third Avenue dip; and that traffic lights be synchronised accordingly at the Cape Road and the William Moffett Expressway intersection.
“Moving forward, I will be engaging with all relevant municipal officials regarding the above proposals made by residents.
“A follow up meeting in this respect will be held soonest to gauge progress and all will be informed in due course. A response to all suggestions and proposals listed above will be given by the relevant parties at the follow up meeting,” Steyn said.
He added that the Department of Roads and Public Works is currently making headway in finding a solution, which would be discussed in a follow-up meeting shortly.
