Durban: Durban residents using Stella Road in the Queensburgh area, west of Durban, are spending longer periods in traffic after the recent floods wiped away two bridges.
Motorists who used Blundell road and Carrick Road, two exits that allowed entrance into Shallcross and Kharwastan, have been forced to use the Umhlatuzana or Burlington Heights route.
This has resulted in major traffic jams along Stella and Freemantle roads leading into Chatsworth.
IOL spoke to DA councillor in the area, Chris van den Berg, who confirmed the bridges between Queensburgh and the two areas were damaged.
“The major traffic jam in the Malvern area has been caused mainly by two bridges that have been badly damaged and are currently impassable. The one at the bottom of Blundell Road going into Shallcross. There’s also another at the Hans Dettman Highway at the intersection of Wilshire Road.
“Most of the traffic is now using the Burlington Road which goes from Malvern into Chatsworth. That is the Piet Retief turn, which is off Stella Road,” Van den Berg said.
Damage that was caused near the Isipingo area along the N2 has resulted in a major backlog of traffic at the Higginson Highway off-ramp.
There was no way to escape it. Motorists who used the M7 into Malvern, further up along the N2-south, are also encountering traffic jams.
It is unclear when the two bridges will be repaired.
A resident, Monique Gossip, said she and her husband sat in traffic along Stella for an hour and a half before they got home.
Gossip, who is a member of the area’s community chat group, said residents have taken it on the chin.
“We have pretty much adjusted to the extra time. It is not as if it is on purpose. It was a shock the first night but we understand. I have heard no one complaining on any groups so far,” she said.
IOL