Wait for speed bumps on Hilken Drive ends

LOCAL councilor Heinz de Boer said he is doing all he can to ensure that promises made to residents are kept. This as uMhlanga’s Hilken Drive residents can finally breathe easy, as the eThekwini Transport Authority announced last week that speed bumps will be erected along the road by June next year.

In a letter to the ward councillor the city said the erection of the speed bumps would be subject to contractor performance.

“They haven’t demarcated the speed bumps yet but usually there’s one every 200 meters. Residents here requested them quite a while ago for various reasons including the noise made by speeding cars,” said de Boer.

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Speed bumps are the common name for a family of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions.

“This is just one of the many roads where we have out requests in for speed bumps. With any stretch road like this one drivers tend to speed. Not only does speeding make noise but it also poses security threats to pedestrians or jogging residents in case the driver fails to control the vehicle,” said de Boer.

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Although speed bumps are effective in keeping vehicle speeds down, they are sometimes seen in bad light. If traversed they may damage vehicles. In case of emergencies they are also seen as hurdles as they slow emergency vehicles.

Heinz concluded that other residents still awaiting a response on their requests for speed bumps should worry not, saying their time would come.

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