Pretoria - Gauteng Roads and Transport MEC Ismail Vadi has expressed satisfaction with the progress being made to fix a sink hole on the Ben Schoeman freeway, south of Jean Avenue in Centurion.
Vadi visited the construction site on Tuesday to assess the impact of the sink hole - which has resulted in traffic congestion on that stretch of freeway - as well as evaluating the progress that has been made on the rehabilitation on the major highway.
"I am very satisfied with the progress made to fix the sink hole, particularly the rehabilitation portion of the highway because the constructors are still on schedule. We are hoping that they will finish working on this major freeway before Christmas, that's the target. The sinkhole must be finished in two or three months' time," he said.
The MEC appealed to motorists to slow down when approaching the construction area. "We are appealing to motorists during the construction phase to take it easy on the road which has been declared a 60km zone," he said.
Vadi's sentiments were echoed by City of Tshwane's Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC), councilor George Matjila.
"As the city, we are very happy with the progress made so far in this freeway which plays a critical role in linking our city and Johannesburg. Once completed, there would be no more traffic congestion on this highway.
"Yes, so far so good, all of us are very happy about the quality of the job that's been done in rehabilitating this busy road."
A sinkhole formed near the road in July as a result of a leak in a water pipe crossing the freeway.
Due to the close proximity of the sinkhole to the inner edges of the road and the subsidence of the road surface in the middle lane on the southbound carriageway, two of the southbound and one of the northbound lanes, as a precautionary measure, were closed.
However, in a bid to reduce the inconvenience caused by the lane closures, additional lanes were constructed on the outer shoulders of the slow lanes.
