The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) will spend R99-million to improve and maintain road infrastructure in the city’s B region.

The B region included relatively developed suburbs such as Windsor, Albertville, Blairgowrie, Bryanston, Bosmont, Coronationville, Cresta, Emmarentia, Greenside, Fairlands, Hurlingham, Florida Glen, Langlaagte, Northcliff, Richmond and Sandhurst.

The budget included R69-million in capital expenditure (capex) and R30-million for maintenance.

“The work that we do in region B is mainly road infrastructure maintenance, rather than road construction, as such. We proactively attend to potentially problematic road surfaces before they become difficult and expensive to fix,” JRA acting MD Mpho Kau said in a statement.

He added that the agency carried out road infrastructure maintenance, including the maintenance of pavements and footways, as well as maintenance of the stormwater systems, on a daily basis.

Of this financial year’s capex, R37-million – the lion’s share – would go towards the road resurfacing programme in all suburbs in region B.

The JRA had also set aside R10-million to repair stormwater systems in three areas in the region, including R2.6-million to be spent in Berario, R3.4-million in Fairlands and R4-million in Kelands at the Willows Bird Sanctuary.

A further R8-million would be spent on bridge infrastructure – R6 million to repair a collapsed gabion wall at Carlow road, in Melville, and R2-million to repair a collapsed culvert at the Auckland Park Country Club.

Kau said another R7-million has been earmarked for the repair of a sinkhole in Bryanston.

Further, R7-million would be spent on the reconstruction of roads in all the region’s suburbs; R4-million for the repair and rehabilitation of embankments and sidewalks along William Nicol road, in Bryanston; and R3-million for the rehabilitation and prevention of soil erosion at the Bryanston river embankment.

The agency was also planning to repair the collapsed sections of the Rea Vaya bus rapid transit route in Auckland Park; collapsed culverts on Surrey road, at the culvert along Bond and Surrey roads in Ferndale and along Barry Hertzog road in Parktown; as well as road resurfacing and repairs to reinstate junction boxes along Lange road in Florida Glen.