Several months of roadworks on Montague Drive are set to be completed by the end of next month, says the City.

The road suffered 12 major sewer collapses from August last year to January this year, according to the City.

Last year, two sinkholes opened in the road just three weeks and 60 metres apart from each other (“Two sinkholes in three weeks on Montague Drive,” Tabletalk, September 20, 2023). At the time, ward councillor Anthony Benadie said that the “unofficial estimated” repair time for the sinkholes was five weeks.

In October, Milnerton residents complained that the repairs were moving at “snail pace” (“Sinkhole repairs cause frustration, delays,” Tabletalk, October 4, 2023).

According to Dr Zahid Badroodien, mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, the 12 major collapses happened successively and at multiple points in the 50-year-old, 900mm fibre-cement bulk sewer pipeline, which runs underground at a depth of five metres.

“After the first collapse, the City immediately started with a scoping exercise and appointed a contractor to assist with emergency repairs to the sewer. Twelve collapses occurred between August 2023 and January 2024, which have all been repaired,” he said.

“Water and sanitation and roads and infrastructure management teams are now working together to ensure that the road is fully restored. The primary objective of the collaboration is to guarantee that the end product meets the infrastructure's life-cycle requirements and is robust on both ends”.

Milnerton resident Derrick Bam, who uses the road often, said the end of the roadworks was good news for motorists.

“For months now, we have had to endure long traffic queues on that road and having to keep taking detours. I am glad that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m still concerned that it has taken this long to even have a definite timeline of when it will be done, but I guess we should be happy that something is being done,” he said.