Mackeurtan Avenue to be narrowed at traffic circle

DURBAN North ward councillor Shaun Ryley has welcome the news that the eThekwini Traffic Authority (ETA) will be narrowing Mackeurtan Avenue, as you enter the Virginia traffic circle to one lane. The department will soon be painting a yellow line at the bottom of the road for motorists to merge into one lane.

“Basically it’s to narrow the two lanes into one, the right hand lane will merge with the left hand lane which leaves just one entry point. Because there is only one lane in the circle, it makes sense. The current situation exacerbates congestion because nobody really knows who has the right of way as they enter the circle. This has come after a denial from the City to install speed humps and while this is not going to solve the issue, it is one way of mitigating the problem.

“There have been several accidents at this particular junction and I am inclined to say that more than six incidents in the last couple of years where the light pole at the traffic circle has been taken out repeatedly. At the moment it is permissible for two lanes of traffic to enter the circle but once the demarcated lines are painted on, that will change it,” he said.

Ryley added Danville Avenue has already been reduced to one lane entering the circle by a painted island.

“The first prize for Mackeurtan would be regular traffic enforcement but this would never be sufficient as it would be impossible to have a presence there 24/7. Second prize would indeed be speed humps. My third prize would be the widening of the island to narrow the lanes. However, by taking this step, I do believe the City will mitigate – to a lesser extent – speeding and – to a greater extent – confusion on the road.”