ILLEGALLY parked trucks are in the news again this week after an Umbilo resident raised concerns over the number of trucks double- and triple-parked along Sydney Road, making this area extremely hazardous and sometimes almost impassable at night.
Vanessa Burger said the number of parked trucks reduced Sydney Road by two lanes on some days, which she said, must have a considerable impact on local businesses and air quality.
“The entrances to the Dalton Hostel are currently inaccessible due to a hostel upgrade so with trucks blocking the only entrance to the hostel, entry to emergency and other vehicles are blocked altogether for most of the day. In the event of a fire or other emergency, this places the lives and belongings of around 2 500 hostel dwellers in immediate danger. Ambulances are forced to park in the busy road to load patients which – especially at night – puts patients, paramedics and the ambulance itself, at risk of being hit by passing, often speeding, vehicles,” she said.
She said the truckstop/garage opposite Dalton Hostel was often totally gridlocked and unusable for obtaining fuel.
“In addition to the homeless man who was killed by a truck recently outside Dalton Hostel, I witnessed another three near misses during a one-hour long meeting last week at the hostel, as trucks narrowly missed residents crossing the road in the evening when they were returning from work. Because of the parked trucks lining both sides of the road, oncoming traffic is obscured to pedestrians who take their lives in their hands each time they cross the road. There are also many children who live at the hostel and cross Sydney Road twice daily to catch taxis to and from school,” she said.
Burger said Metro Police were very rarely seen attending to the truck problem in this area.
“Many other areas around south Durban are currently under siege as the number of trucks on residential roads and through business areas has increased dramatically, I believe due to increased harbour activity. I would like to know what, if any, plans the city has in place to deal with the immediate problem, particularly as we are having a 'bigger and better' port forced on us, for which related development and construction projects are already, piecemeal, underway,” she said.
Councillor Nicole Graham said shw had asked for a meeting with Morgan Subramany from Metro Police to deal with truck problems in general.
