The contentious issue of the lack of speed humps in residential areas, more specifically in Killarney Avenue, has had some Lakefield residents up in arms for several years.
Lakewest Resident Association chair Glynis Holdsworth told the City Times the problem of drivers not adhering to the speed limits was concerning for the safety of those living in the suburb.
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“We have struggled with reckless drivers for years now – occasionally EMPD does a blitz, and manages to fine motorists but the next day they are flying through our quiet residential suburb.
“Stop streets, speed limits, parents walking with their children and or dogs, are no deterrent to these impatient drivers.
“Ekurhuleni did instal a few speed humps years ago, but we need a lot more if we are going to control the reckless speeding motorists.
“The issue is we need a lot more traffic calming measures.
“Sadly they are not a priority for Ekurhuleni.”
Holdsworth also stated that residents were willing to instal speed humps and incur the cost which she said is about R32 000 per speed hump.
However, permission from the metro is required for this exercise.
In April 2019, the City Times contacted the EMPD regarding the matter.
At the time, the following response was received:
“Preliminary investigations reveal that there’s no excessive speeding on Killarney Avenue, the flow of traffic is average, ‘rat racing’ seemed to be far-fetched and there’s no evidence of it being used as a shortcut from Atlas to Lakefield road.
“Other roads in the surrounding were visited and observed where excessive speeding was not picked up, except on Edward and Lakefield roads where speed violation was detected and as a result, the two mentioned roads/streets will be under surveillance.”
In December 2019, the City Times again contacted the EMPD.
“It is on record that EMPD officers attended to a complaint in April 2019,” confirmed media liaison officer, Lerato Monyane.
“This street is a dual carriage way with single lanes in both directions, and it is a very quiet residential street that carries hardly any traffic at all.
“Proper speed law enforcement cannot be conducted, due to the short distance of the street (about 300 meters),” Monyane concluded.
