THE Johannesburg Roads Agency, owned by the Johannesburg metropolitan council, has set aside R392m for the maintenance of existing, and the construction of new, roads.
The project aims to improve the movement of commuters and goods in the Johannesburg area.
Of the R392m, R120m will go to new capital projects and the rest to maintaining existing roads.
The upgrading and integration of traffic lights has been allocated R3m. One of the flagship projects is the Comoro-Mooi road linking the southern suburbs of Rosettenville with the inner city. A sum of R38m has been allocated to this.
Another project involves the construction of a road that will link Kliptown Freedom Square with the southern townships, like Soweto and Lenasia.
Johannesburg Roads Agency MD Mavela Dlamini said yesterday that there were minor roads in these areas, but they did not have the capacity to deal with the huge amount of traffic. Johannesburg had 913km of gravel roads in its townships and at least R1,8bn was needed to get rid of the 'unacceptable' backlog.
Only R18m had, however, been allocated within the current financial year.
'We are in the process of developing a strategic plan on how to go about tarring the dirt roads.
'The question we have to answer is whether we go all at once or do it in phases, and we have to discuss that with the political leadership,' said Dlamini.