The R303 access road to Citrusdal was reopened to traffic on Sunday after it was recently badly damaged by flooding due to large-scale rain in the province.
Parts of this road, which connects Citrusdal with the N7 highway, were completely destroyed when the Olifants River flooded.
Residents of this Western Cape town, some of whom have lived there for 28 years, told RNews earlier this week that “Citrusdal has never seen so much water”. Residents were cut off from the rest of the world for days with all access roads to and from the town flooded.
The massive damage to infrastructure necessitated urgent repairs.
By last Sunday (June 18), residents could use the alternative Ceres and Clanwilliam road, which is however only a one-lane road. A private low water bridge at Mouton Citrus’ warehouse has also been opened to motorists. However, the R303 main road was still closed and is also one of the worst damaged roads in the area.
Tertuis Simmers, the DA’s provincial leader in the Western Cape, said on Sunday that he was “delighted” about the progress of the urgent repair work on the R303.
“The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure worked closely with the West Coast District Municipality to repair the road. Work to repair and reopen the road has taken ten days since it washed away. Traffic will continue to travel on a dirt road for a while while reconstruction continues.”
Boffie Strydom, mayor of the West Coast District Municipality, praised the cooperation between the provincial government, local government, Cederberg Municipality and the private sector, and says the quick repairs serve as proof of what can be achieved when there is good cooperation.
Simmers says the reopening of the road will reconnect the community with the rest of the province, and make it possible for economic activities to continue smoothly again.
“Hope is further created in the Citrusdal area as greater access to essential services becomes available again. Those who need to travel to Cape Town for medical procedures can now proceed as planned.”
