Following a consultative process with communities in the south of Johannesburg over the enhanced delivery of roads, the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) on Wednesday launched three road projects budgeted at a total cost of R217.2-million.

The first of the three projects, all of which would target roads in the southern Johannesburg district of Soweto, would entail an extensive upgrade of gravel roads, while the second project would involve the construction of a bridge in the eastern Soweto township of Naledi and the third project would focus on upgrading the area’s stormwater drains.

The gravel roads upgrade programme, which had already seen roads in the Doornkop township upgraded, would now target the Soweto townships of Diepsloot, Bramfischerville, Doornkop, Orange Farm, Thulani, Tshepisong and Lawley.

The programme’s budget for the 2013/14 financial year was R16-million and, over the medium-term expenditure framework period, the JRA expected to spend over R1.3-billion on upgrading gravel roads in the area.

“Moreover, the townships of Protea South and Lawley have been added to the list for upgrading in the 2014/15 financial period, and more townships will be added over the medium term. The estimated jobs to be created [during construction] are 280 and, upon completion of the projects, the standard of living and mobility in these areas will be greatly improved,” commented JRA MD Skhumbuzo Macozoma.

He added that the construction of the new Naledi bridge was aimed at “bridging the historical apartheid separation of two close and interlinked communities in Soweto”, thus, creating a safe crossing over the railway line for pedestrians and vehicles in Ward 20 in Naledi and in Ward 14 in Protea North Region D.

The R50-million project started on June 10 and would be completed by September next year, while some 100 job opportunities would be created during the construction phase.

Meanwhile, the third project would see the stormwater drains in Dobsonville Extension 3 in Region D’ s Ward 48 being upgraded at a cost of R6.2-million to reduce flooding in the area.

This programme would include the conversion of the exiting open-drain system to a closed system to prevent community members from being swept away by high waters during flooding.

“This will be done by installing new pipes and increasing the capacity of the existing systems. This project started in February and is targeted for completion by the end of July. About 40 job opportunities will be created by the end of the project.

“People in these areas requested service delivery and the JRA responded by delivering on its mandate to provide [high]-quality roads that are accessible, safe and liveable for our communities,” Macozoma noted.