THE eThekwini Metro police spokesperson, senior superintendent Parboo Sewpersad, has described the M7 highway, connecting the southern and western parts of Durban, as ‘the perfect storm’.
Sewpersad’s comments come after an accident on Thursday, 14 January involving a truck and a car.
It resulted in delays on the busy highway between Queensburgh and the N2, during peak hour traffic.
In November last year, an eight-car pile-up on the notorious M7 highway brought morning traffic to a standstill.
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“What we have with the M7 on some days is the perfect storm of unrelated incidents which, put together, create problems on this hugely problematic highway,” Sewpersad.
What is more, the highway is frequented by truck drivers travelling to and from the harbour and industrial areas south of Durban in search of an ‘escape route’.
“The trucks are even a bigger problem now that the railway is no longer operational,” said Sewpersad.
He said just one truck breaking down can have a serious knock-on effect resulting in delays for motorists who are forced to just wait.
“Add problems caused by traffic lights not working, the fact that the road can’t be avoided by some motorists, issues like sinkholes and a myriad of obstructions on the road almost daily and we can see there is a potential for the road to get very congested,” he said.
Sewpersad said the traffic lights not functioning was sometimes due to vandalism and other times due to loadshedding.
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The senior superintendent said road users reporting problems on roads to the city’s emergency number 031 361 0000 would be of great assistance.
“It is manned 24 hours a day.”
Before people start sharing messages on social media they need to ensure they report it to the emergency services.
“Report and obtain a reference number, not just for broken traffic lights, but also to report all types of problems on the roads, from broken down vehicles to accidents and everything in between including road obstructions,” said Sewpersad.
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