GEORGE NEWS - Regular motorists on the Hansmoeskraal road to Le Grand and Gwaiing beach are questioning the fact that the road is not being tarred.
George Herald a few years ago reported on disgruntled residents of the Hansmoeskraal area threatening to hold back their rates and taxes until the road was tarred.
The sentiment was that their contribution to the municipal kitty was enough to justify "better service". Now, dissatisfied residents again want to engage with the George Municipality.
A motorist who wants to remain anonymous, says it is the only beach in the area that is reached via a dirt road. "Residents of George, Pacaltsdorp, Hansmoeskraal and tourists would all appreciate it being a lot less destructive to our vehicles. The original intention was to tar the road with funds from the George Municipality, Garden Route District Municipality and Le Grand. This has never happened and Le Grand has expanded enormously over the last couple of years with residents and contractors increasing the road damage. This has resulted in a very dangerous road and an increase in accidents, fortunately not all of them fatal."
Acting Director for Civil Engineering Services Lionel Daniels says the upgrading of the road will be driven by private development in the Hansmoeskraal area, as and when it occurs. "It will happen through development contributions towards the cost of the upgrading. The upgrading of the road was a condition of the Le Grand
Phase 2 development, but unfortunately the development did not proceed as the developer was liquidated. The only measures the George Municipality can put in place are warning road signs and speed control signs."
An analysis of the road has indicated that temporarily upgrading the gravel road will cost an estimated R3-million.
"Given the number of road users in the Hansmoeskraal area versus the enormous need for upgrades in densely populated formal residential neighbourhoods with gravel roads, it is difficult to motivate the cost on a "per residential user" comparative basis when prioritising the limited budget available for the upgrading of streets to a formal municipal cross-section," says Daniels.
"Nevertheless, a request for more maintenance funding will be submitted during the next budget cycle for Council's consideration."
He says currently the municipality is already doing more than just routine maintenance on the road, and also when formal complaints through the customer care complaints section are received.
More frequent maintenance of the road was done over the festive season when traffic volume increased due to visitor numbers to the Gwaiing River mouth. "We do however have a grading cycle and cannot commit all our resources to one road alone, while we have a vast number of gravel roads across the entire George to maintain."
Johan Gouws, chairperson of the Le Grand Homeowners Association, confirmed that the estate's growth in residents and construction projects in the past two years have increased the traffic on the road.
The estate and the new developers are engaging with the municipality to find solutions to tar the road over time.
Gouws confirmed that the state of the road is a large obstacle for the development and that it is dangerous to all road users and specifically residents of the estate.
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