A long-standing road freight issue involving a bridge with a three-metre height restriction sign clearly visible on the one side but apparently lacking such a warning on the other side, continues to disrupt traffic flow on the East Rand in Gauteng.
Situated on Elgin Road near the Pretoria Road T-junction, the notorious underpass is clearly for use by low-clearance vehicles only, but trucks violating the height restriction regularly get stuck underneath the bridge.
A concerned citizen using the M89 (Elgin Road) said a truck got stuck under the bridge at least once a week.
“It’s a thorn in the side of many people,” she said.
Ward 15 councillor, Amanda Davidson, is on record saying it feels more like a daily occurrence and that structural integrity of a railway bridge has been compromised by height-restriction violations for decades.
In the most recent incident, a general cargo truck was wedged under the bridge last week.
Davidson told the Kempton Express in October that residents continued to complain about the Elgin Road problem, a busy thoroughfare between the R25 and M57 (Pretoria Road).
“Despite repeated pleas for intervention, little has changed,” she apparently said, remarking that resulting traffic management of trucks getting stuck under the bridge was a waste of EMPD resources.
A journalist working for the community newspaper confirmed that they were continuously reporting the problem.
On October 16, the Express posted a story saying: “The City of Ekurhuleni’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) shows budget allocations for improvements, yet no visible upgrades have been made.”
It is understood that R300 000 was allocated for the 2024/25 financial year for signage and physical upgrades, but not used.
“In response to Davison’s questions in council, the city confirmed that the 2024/25 funds were used to appoint professional engineers to conduct a feasibility study and design warning systems for low bridges across the metro.
“City spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the funds were used for the Elgin height restriction project, with engineers currently finalising an investigation and design report,” the Express added.
Dlamini also told the paper: “It is not true that the funds were not used. The money was used, and a service provider was appointed for the investigation.
“The city awaits the report with recommendations from the service provider, which will determine the necessary interventions and associated budgets. Once this has been completed, we will decide when the work will be carried out.”
The Elgin Road bridge is about five kilometres south of the Railways Street bridge in Boksburg where a speeding tanker truck carrying LPG violated a height restriction on December 24, 2022, killing 41 people in the ensuing explosion.
It blew away nearby property and caused significant structural damage to crucial logistics infrastructure.
It is not certain how the Council intends to spend two amounts of R500 000 each for the financial years of 2025/26 and 2026/27, believed to have been allocated for road infrastructure upgrades to long-standing concerns such as the Elgin Road bridge.
