Communities benefit from reopening of Umlazi R102 road
Mayor Kaunda said with the completion of the project, traffic congestion will be eased. He said a major benefit of the project was job creation.
There were loud cheers from residents of Umlazi and surrounding areas when eThekwini mayor, Cllr Mxolisi Kaunda reopened the R102 (South Coast Road) on September 9.
Mayor Kaunda also unveiled a newly constructed bridge in Umlazi on the same day. This comes as repairs to the R102 near Mega City in Umlazi were recently completed and will ease the traffic flow coming out of Umlazi and surrounding areas.
Residents also benefitted from the R30 million upgrade with over 30 job opportunities for local businesses as well as local labour being employed for the project.
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Repairs to the road were necessary after it was badly damaged during the April floods. This resulted in traffic congestion as there was only one lane coming out of Umlazi.
The road is a busy thoroughfare and is used by more than 2, 000 motorists every hour. As part of the upgrade, the sidewalk was widened to ensure the safety of pedestrians using the road. Mayor Kaunda said with the completion of the project, traffic congestion will be eased. He said a major benefit of the project was job creation.
“There was a concerted effort to create job opportunities for local businesses and to employ local labour from Umlazi. Locals were also empowered through skills development on the project. We had a good relationship with the stakeholders involved to ensure maximum local community involvement,” he said.
While the road belongs to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport (DOT), the city oversaw the repairs because of a memorandum of agreement signed between eThekwini Municipality and the DOT.
Repair work that has been completed includes the lower sub-base layer, and upper sub-base layer, the laying of additional gabion baskets as erosion protection, the laying of 300mm thick gabion reno-mattress as erosion protection, installation of guardrails, installation of kerb and channel, and the construction of new sidewalk.
As an additional precautionary measure, the team added more gabions on the side of the road to ensure that it does not flood again. Regarding the bridge opening, Mayor Kaunda officially handed over the bridge, in Philani Valley near the Mega Philani Mall, to residents.
