The residents of Marlands and Denlee want the roads in their areas to be safe.
They believe that if speed humps were erected in their areas they would assist in maintaining the speed limit and lessening the number of accidents in the areas.
Marlands residents would like a speed hump put up in the slip-way from Kraft Road into Barbara Road, to stop accidents (the most recent accident was on October 8).
“On October 8 the driver of a BMW lost control and crashed through the wall of Woodmere Villas.
“Fortunately there were no serious injuries, but the resident of the unit was watering the garden just 10 minutes prior to the accident; had she still been there, she could have been hurt seriously or even killed,” said Marlands resident Schalk Jansen van Vuuren.
“There are quite a lot of accidents in the area and I believe speeding is the main cause.”
Denlee residents would like speed humps put on Chapman Road and Whitford Road, with special focus on the corner where these two roads meet.
The GCN contacted the metro, as well as the ward councillors for each area, to find out what the likelihood of the request for speed bumps being successful was.
Ward 21 councillor Tania Campbell said: “A formal request has to be sent to the roads department.
“The roads department will then go out and do an evaluation on the situation; this includes a traffic impact study.
“The roads department is guided by the Road Traffic Ordinance Act, and will not erect any speed humps that do not comply with the Act.
“They will also not erect any speed humps on main roads where emergency vehicles travel, or on any national or provincial roads, Kraft Road is a main/semi-provincial road.
“After the evaluation is done and the request is approved it has to be placed on the budget. If the council is already in a current budget cycle and funds are not available it has to be budgeted for the next year.”
Campbell explained that the erection of speed Bumps is not an overnight situation and that the EMPD is responsible for traffic regulations in the area.
Ward 36’s councillor Chris Swanepoel commented: “It is easier for residents of Denlee/Lambton and other areas in Ward 36 with similar requests to contact me personally, so that I can assist and fast track their enquiries and requests.
“My contact number is 082 377 3401.
“Enquiries for speed humps can be made with the senior engineer of roads and storm water on 011 999-1111, or the engineer of roads and storm water on 011 999-1206.
“The likelihood of a request being successful depends on the type of road.
“Other methods of traffic calming, like ripple applications and/or road marking boards, or even robot systems, can be utilised, dependent on the road and the findings of the roads and storm water department’s investigations of a particular road.
The EMPD can also be requested to deploy staff to manage and enforce speed calming where vehicles travel at higher speeds than indicated for suburban roads.”
At the time of going to press the GCN had not received comment from the metro.
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