Traffic lights on busy Midrand road out of order for a year

Several non-functioning traffic lights on Pretoria Main Road are causing widespread traffic congestion. One traffic light – at the Pretoria Main and West Street intersection – has not worked for almost a year.

Other traffic lights that function sporadically include those at the intersections of Pretoria Main Road and Johnnic Boulevard, and Pretoria Main and Old Pretoria Main roads. This causes major frustrations for motorists travelling from Glen Austin AH, Ivory Park, Kaalfontein, Ebony Park and Allandale. Resident Yvette Page, who uses West Road going from Glen Austin to Pretoria, said the broken lights are a headache during peak hours.

“When I drive to work, which is about 8km away, I pass about four broken or non-functioning traffic lights. Now I am forced to leave early so that I avoid traffic hassles at those robots,” said Page. Another resident, Mel James, who works in Halfway House, said, “There have been a couple of accidents that I came across in Midrand, which were at non-functioning traffic lights. Those responsible for maintenance seem to not be doing their jobs. The traffic lights have been neglected for far too long now.”

Midrand Reporter contacted City Power for comment about the issue but was referred to the Johannesburg Roads Agency, which in turn passed the publication on to the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport. A query was sent to the department’s spokesperson, Lesiba Mpya, on March 23. Mpya only responded on March 28, saying, “Having noted your query a few days ago, please confirm if the traffic lights have been attended to.”

The publication responded to Mpya, notifying her that the traffic lights were still not working but no response has been received, despite reminders being sent on March 30 and April 4.

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