BY NTANDO MAKHUBU
Pretoria - Friday traffic along the N1 highway near Wallmansthal was heavily backed up after the road was closed due to the collapse of part of the ceiling inside Steers restaurant at Petroport Panorama on Friday afternoon.
The highway, going north and south was closed as a precautionary measure as engineers sought to establish the safety of the restaurant, which sits above and across the freeway near the Pumulani toll plaza.
“Due to the earlier roof collapse at N1 Petroport, we can confirm that the N1 north and N1 south is safe and open to travel,”said Bakwena Platinum just before 6pm.
They posted the message on their social media pages and cautioned road users to proceed with caution.
“Traffic is still heavily backed up and the backlog will take some time to clear,” they said after the collapse of the roof just before noon. Six people were injured during the ceiling collapse.
Paramedics said the injured - one worker and five customers - were offered treatment but two refused to be attended to by the paramedics.
“The four were stabilised and taken to nearby hospitals for further medical attention,”Netcare 911 spokesman Athlende Mathe said.
Bakwena immediately took to social media to inform motorists using the highway of the inconvenience along the busy road, cautioning them of the resultant delays and offering advice on alternative routes.
They said: “Alert: Please note that a portion of the N1 Petroport roof has collapsed and there is full road closure north & south at the Petroport.”
Traffic was being diverted through the Petroport itself, they said, adding that the road was seriously backlogged so motorists travelling to Polokwane could take the N4 split, go through Doornpoort and take the K97 ramp, turn right and into the R101.
They told road users to either stay on the R101 or join the N1 again at Wallmannsthal. “For vehicles travelling southbound the same info is applicable,”Bakwena said.
Updating users as often as possible during the road closure, Bakwena informed users: “A structural engineer is busy with the assessment and once the bridge over the N1 has been declared safe the road will be opened.”
They called for patience and the use of alternative routes and apologised for the inconvenience.
“The N1 north is backed up quite heavily so it may take you some time to get to the Zambesi (Sefako Makgatho) off-ramp,”they responded to road users’ questions on the accessibility of the route.
The restaurant is one of a number above the bridge and above the freeway. Traffic watch and information sites told of delays of up to 50 minutes, and said average travel speed was 10km/h.
Tshwane Metro Police and emergency services were at the scene in anticipation of further incidents and to monitor the flow of traffic.
“We do apologise for the delays; the safety of our road users is our top priority. As soon as the structure has been declared safe the road will be opened,” Bakwena posted.
Late on Friday night, it was still not clear what caused part of the ceiling to cave in, bringing down broken pieces of building fittings on to the dining tables and chairs.
@ntsandvose
Pretoria News