With all the environmental issues now approved construction of the new bridge over the Sand River is all go. Anyone travelling over the temporary bridge recently, well not quite temporary considering how long it has been the only access to St Francis, will have noted activity at last. With construction due to take 15 months there will no doubt be a fair amount of disruption to traffic flow, particularly in the early stages. The reason is that the Sand river has to be re-routed so as not to interfere with construction of the new bridge. To Do this requires a rather large pipe to be installed under the existing road before the river can be re-routed.
During this period there will be times, possibly entire days when there will be a ‘Stop & Go’ in place as there will only be a single lane crossing the river and other times the road may be closed totally for short periods. So folks, let’s not get aggravated and impatient. There will be delays in travel times so leave a little earlier than you normally would if you need to get to the college, the airport or an appointment in Humansdorp or PE.
You will note there are some new speed restriction signs so let us all obey these. There will be construction workers and construction equipment on the road and we really don’t need someone’s impatients causing an accident further delaying construction. Construction will obviously span the Christmas period but fortunately actual work should shut down during this extremely busy period from 16th December through to early January for the construction industry holidays. The diversion of the Sand river should be complete by then so there should not be any more inconvenience to traffic than in past years since the temporary bridge has been in place.
From time to time there will be traffic enforcement so keep your speed within the limits, your road rage in check and you will be able to keep your hard earned Rands in your wallet.
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