No speed humps for Prestondale – municipality

TEMPERS flared at a heated public meeting as eThekwini Transport Authority’s (ETA) Carlos Esteves addressed a crowd of around 30 Prestondale residents last night. The meeting, held at the KZN Sharks Board, sought to address concerns raised by residents about the flouting of speed limits and the possibility of installing speed humps, particularly on Preston Drive, which leads into the Umhlanga College and the new housing development, Izinga Ridge.

The Prestondale area has seen a meteoric rise in traffic volumes in the last few years. Esteves, who came prepared with a presentation outlining the city’s stance on the issue, was interrupted several times and, at one point one frustrated resident stormed out, saying he did not want to hear any more stats from the ETA member.

“Depending on our budget, we traffic calm more than 30 roads annually across the city. In 2014, we had more than 52 000 accidents across the city. While speeding is a problem and speed humps remain a priority for the city, driver behaviour is something that has to change as well,” he said.

While Esteves acknowledged the city’s commitment to road safety, he added that residents could themselves fund the speed humps on Preston Drive. A single speed hump, he said, could cost in the region of R15 000 to R18 000.

“In terms of priority, there are a thousand other roads ahead of Preston Drive which need to traffic calming measures. The city has no problem with residents funding their own speed humps, but that has to be done in a such a way that it should not cause a safety hazard on public road to any road user and must be consistent and appropriate to the class of road, and it has to be done through a contractor who the city uses,” he explained.