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Robert Dempster
Riding on the Edge(of the pavements in Pietermaritzburg) |
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The net result of this is that I get to observe the state of the pavements, gutters and drains that I pass as I do so. Much of it is OK, some of it not to bad and then there are stretches that are either completely dysfunctional, or grossly unkept. The photographs include here, like others I have presented in other blogs I have written, are representative of the situation.
This blog is however dfferent, it primarily concentrates on Peter Brown Drive. The road is basically in good condition. Work is also done in along this road to keep the pavements (verges) looking good. However there are still problems, and some of them are huge when it comes to cycling along Peter Brown Drive. The first would be that the grass cuttings and the fallen gum tree branches and leaves are left on the edge of the road. This forces cyclists away from the roads edge which is not what you want along a road that contains bends an obscured views of the road ahead. The second would be the undergrowth that has grown over the pavement and into the road. This poses an even bigger danger to cyclists as it obscures the view of the road ahead to an even greater extent.
The previous occasion when I found myself cycling along Peter Brown Drive there were Municipal Workers there cutting the grass. The truck driver / supervisor was at his vehicle which was conveniently parked at one of the spots where the undergrowth extended into the road. So I stopped and first complimented him on the work being done. I then also asked why they did not cut back the undergrowth while they were busy cutting the grass. He gave various reasons (staffing, time finance etc.) as to why that was the case, and then surprisingly also said that there was a plan to do so in the future.
Well yesterday I rode along Peter Brown Drive again and while there are still some problems, the undergrowth that I had pointed out to him at the point where I had met him, had not only been cut, but also removed. Viva the Municipality, Viva! The rest of this blog is specific to the photographs presented below and is best read by reading the captions going through the sequence of photographs. These captions will pop up when a pointing device moves over the corresponding photograph.
