Stone-throwing from the Colorado Bridge continues to threaten the safety of residents and motorists, but the provincial Department of Infrastructure has told the City it is not their problem.
Background
Ward 75 councillor Joan Woodman has been pushing for more than two years for a protective cage to be erected on the bridge in Colorado Park. She told a Subcouncil 12 meeting in October last year that recent upgrades, limited to the addition of a guard rail, were insufficient.
“It is certainly by the grace of God that no one was killed during this time with an unsafe bridge not being fixed and left for this long in a non-compliant state,” she said at the time. Councillors unanimously backed her urgent motion for a cage.
The province pushes back
A motion of exigency was submitted formally requesting that the responsible authority erect a protective cage on the bridge and carry out the necessary repairs and ongoing maintenance.
Feedback from the provincial Department of Infrastructure, discussed at the Subcouncil 17 meeting last month, indicated that while the R300 is a provincial road, the Colorado Bridge itself forms part of the City of Cape Town’s road network along Weltevreden Road. The province said its interest was limited to any impact on the R300 and that it had no record of stone-throwing incidents onto the provincial road at that location.
The department added that damage to nearby private properties was a policing matter and should be directed to the City of Cape Town. It also noted that it operates under constrained budgets and prioritises the safety of provincial roads.
City to be approached
At the 15 June meeting, subcouncil chair Elton Jansen noted that the province was referring the matter back to the City of Cape Town and said the bridge section had previously been identified as provincial. He said he intended to write directly to the Mayor, to Western Cape Infrastructure Minister Tertuis STET Simmers, and to the Mayco member for urban mobility, Rob Quintus, to seek clarity and resolution.
He proposed that any correspondence confirm that while Weltevreden Road is City-managed, the bridge belongs to the province — and reiterated the call for a protective cage.
The sub-council indicated it would continue to pursue the matter.
