Village Way at the mercy of speedsters
Constant speeding and flouting of the 40km/h speed limit on Village Way has residents concerned about their saftey.
RESIDENTS of Village Way in Sunningdale say it’s only a matter of time before a fatality occurs on the high traffic road. The residents last week said that they felt their safety concerns were being swept aside by the city and their call for speed calming measures ignored.
They voiced their concern over the constant speeding and flouting of the 40km/h speed limit on the road. Residents have lost pets, had an electricity box taken out and a recent CCTV clip of a motorist driving well over 100km/h on the road has highlighted the plight of the residents.
Andre Hattingh chairperson of the Sunningdale Homeowners Association, said residential roads like Village Way were not for speeding. “The municipality have given several wishy washy answers as to why Village Way doesn’t qualify for speed calming measures. They see it as a category 4 road, i.e a feeder road, but it doesn’t feed anything.
“They say that because 10 000 cars use the road daily, it’s classified as a high volume road, which is absolute rubbish. The bottom end of the road is also a dead end. Speeding is an issue and if this continues, there will be a fatality,” he said. “I have seen cars going at least 100 km/h.”
Hattingh said several motorist have escaped serious injuries after speeding down Village Way and crashing into the metal-gate barrier at the bottom of the dead-end. The most recent accident was in February this year.
In 2006, the eThekwini Transport Authority launched its traffic calming policy, with the aim to reduce excessive traffic volumes on roads not designed for this purpose and a reduction of the operating speed, where excessive speed could lead to a potential hazard. However, measures could only be taken if there was a high record of accidents.
uMhlanga councillor, Heinz de Boer berated the ‘lunacy’ of the policy that requires accidents to prevent accidents
“Council have found every excuse not to put in traffic calming measures, it’s absolutely ludicrous,” he said. De Boer explained the traffic count the municipality embarked on measured 10 000 vehicles driving through the intersection of Village Way and Umhlanga Rocks Drive.
De Boer suggested using speed cushions or miniature rubber speed bumps which would not cost the city much.
“The municipality have ruled out traffic circles because of the gradient and the road does not meet criteria for speed-bumps because of a lack of accidents. Metro have trapped motorists but their vigils haven’t been frequent enough,” he explained.
