[imagesource:smilefm]

Cape Town’s Jakes Gerwel Drive is the talk of the town after a bizarre discovery beneath the bridge linking to Bonteheuwel forced the City to temporarily shut it down near Viking Road, heading toward the N2.

The plot thickened last Wednesday when sharp-eyed motorists spotted a crack in the road near the bridge (see up top). Naturally, Bonteheuwel’s ward councillor, Angus Mckenzie, didn’t waste any time and logged the issue in the time you can say “eish.” City engineers were on the scene soon after, poking and prodding to figure out what was going on.

At first, they thought it was just the road’s surface playing up—standard wear and tear, you know. But come Friday, a deeper inspection revealed a much bigger snag: extensive, unexpected digging beneath the bridge. Cue raised eyebrows and an even bigger headache for City officials.

“What started as an investigation on the top surface of the road led us to a shocking discovery at the bottom of the bridge,” Mckenzie said via Cape Argus.

Image: SmileFM

“We discovered that people had excavated quite extensively into the bridge itself.

“Some people had even begun living inside the dug-up trenches. They were mining sand, selling it, and living beneath the ground.”

Image: SmileFM

The City’s Urban Mobility Directorate confirmed that this unexpected activity had seriously compromised the bridge’s structural integrity—and the surrounding road for good measure.

Urban Mobility Mayco member Rob Quintas said the closure of this high-traffic route wasn’t up for debate and public safety comes first as the City works to untangle this very Cape Town-esque saga.

With Jakes Gerwel Drive’s southbound lanes at Viking Road still out of action, the City has rolled out temporary traffic measures to ease the chaos. One lane from the opposite side has been borrowed to keep things moving.

Mckenzie was optimistic, noting “We are hoping that during the course of the day, we can get the necessary work done to allow at least one more lane to reopen, especially to avoid congestion during peak hours.”

Meanwhile, the Roads Infrastructure Management Department is hard at work ensuring safety measures are sorted before the affected segment reopens. For now, motorists are urged to steer clear of the N7 Jakes Gerwel southbound and consider alternative routes.

Oh, and a word to the wise: if you see anyone trying their luck by removing materials from under the bridge, call the City’s hotline at 021 480 7700. Let’s keep the sand where it belongs—under the bridge, not scattered all over the city.

[source:iol]