Doreen Road is one of three passes in Constantia Kloof used by hundreds of motorists on their daily commute into Roodepoort.
The steep hill and winding turns leading to Hendrik Potgieter Road has certainly caused more than its fair share of accidents for motorists and cyclists travelling towards Ruimsig. Overgrown trees block motorists’ vision on a blind, uphill turn.
Metal rods used with barbwire to prevent rocks from rolling into the road now protrude into the road, and motorists are forced to drive virtually on top of the white line to avoid scratching their vehicles.
Helen Muir, owner of Village Nursery on Doreen Road, has experienced many problems regarding the overgrown trees and reckless driving along the road.
“We’ve been asking City Parks to fell the trees alongside the road for years,” said Muir. “Especially the black wattle, which is a non-indigenous, invasive species. They never did anything though. We eventually opted to clear as much as we could of it ourselves. But to maintain it takes manpower that I simply do not have.”
Mariette McAllister, a nurse at a doctor’s practice on Doreen Road, said, “You simply can’t see what’s coming around the bend. One moment you’re trying to miss a pothole, the next, you’re swerving around a pedestrian who’s skirting a tree.”
City Parks assured the Northsider that the trees along Doreen Road would be removed on 27 August.
