August 7, 2006
By Lucille Davie
SANDOWN residents will be without water on Sunday, 13 August, as Gautrain operations to install infrastructure get under way.
An apologetic Gautrain construction team says there'll be scheduled disruptions in the form of a "total water shutdown" from 7am to 7pm on the day.
New water supply pipelines to the east of Rivonia Road have already been laid, and the upcoming shutdown will allow the existing water line in 5th and West streets to be connected to the new line.
This is part of the enabling works programme, in which power lines, gas and water pipes will be relocated to take in new stations at Sandton and Marlboro, and at the Gautrain's starting point Park Station and the next station, Rosebank.
"In anticipation of such works, Gautrain will embark on several scheduled utilities disruptions for the next few months as part of Initial Works," says a Gautrain statement.
The Sandton Station is to be the flagship station and will go underground 40 metres or 12 storeys. Work has been ongoing on the relocation of telecoms and electricity cables and water and sewerage infrastructure in the area.
Rivonia Road will soon have major diversions. Katherine Street and West Road will be upgraded, after which the northbound side of Rivonia Road will be closed until the end of construction of the Sandton Station, at the end of 2009. Northbound traffic will be diverted along the southbound side of Rivonia Road, while southbound traffic will be diverted along West Road and Katherine Street back into Rivonia Road at Sandton Drive.
The Sandton taxi rank, on the corner of Rivonia and West roads, will be relocated to the corner of West Road and Stella Street in July.
Disruptions have also occurred at Rosebank, where the servitude lane along Oxford Road outside The Zone has been closed. The demolition of Modutec Office Furniture at 130 Oxford Road, plus the two houses immediately south of it, will be demolished within the next few weeks.
Digging will start in four to five weeks, says Barbara Jensen, spokesperson for the Gautrain. "This will see major road closures around Park Station in Braamfontein and along Oxford Road in Rosebank.
The high-speed Gautrain will consist of 10 stations between Park Station and Hatfield Station in Tshwane, with a link eastward to Johannesburg International Airport, a total distance of 80 kilometres. About 300 000 cars travel between Tshwane and Johannesburg on the Ben Schoeman Highway each day, and the Gautrain is expected to relieve some of this congestion.
Residents are requested to call the Gautrain toll-free number - 0800 Gautrain or 0800 428 872 46 - to report any major incidents.
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