Today, the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) announced that it completed construction works on the Westbury Pedestrian Bridge and Park project on behalf of the City of Johannesburg. The bridge and the park will be open for use by the community from today, 15 December 2016. An official launch of the project will take place year. The Westbury Pedestrian Bridge and Park project is located on Fuel Road and the Park is on Kretchmar Street.
The scope of works of the project entailed design and implementation of the pedestrian bridge connecting to the Rea Vaya BRT station on Fuel Road. The bridge connects from Kowie Street to Kretschmar incorporating the park upgrade which includes street lighting and soft and hard landscaping. The park features an outdoor gym, amphitheatre and entertainment stage, playground equipment, and an art mural designed by Lorenzo Masembeni together with the Westbury Youth.
The pedestrian bridge itself links directly from the Rea Vaya station and it features stairs as well as a lift on the centre pier of the bridge to accommodate universal access from the station to the top of bridge and vice versa. The lift will only be operational at the end of December 2016.
“The bridge was fabricated off-site and erected overnight to ensure that we minimise inconvenience to residents and motorists. The erection of the structure also required that we ensure that all safety precautions are put in place and that we apply the necessary engineering best practice to ensure quality assurance and applicable safety measures are adhered to during this process, said Thanduxolo Mendrew, JDA’s Chief Executive Officer. He further extended the agency’s gratitude to residents and motorists for their patience during the construction of the project.
City of Johannesburg’s Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC), Cllr. Funzela Ngobeni commended the JDA for prioritising service delivery. “This has been a long time coming for the residents of Westbury, and I urge the community to take care of the facilities. This project was developed for a number of reasons, to ensure the safety of the residents the bridge and to contribute to their community’s recreational needs with a park” said MMC Ngobeni.
“This administration is determined to improve service delivery for the benefit of the residents of this City. For Westbury, this is only the beginning of what the City has in store for the local community” concluded Cllr. Ngobeni.
Issued by:
Johannesburg Development Agency
Email: smonyai@jda.org.za
Tel: 011 688 7851