The price of safety
There is no budget to ensure the safety of children at Bordeaux Primary School.
The last thing that should be on any child’s mind is being knocked over by a speeding car.
Unfortunately pupils at Bordeaux Primary School are faced with this fear every day as they cross Main Street in Bordeaux North to get to and from school. This school is one of the only government schools in the northern suburbs that does not have speed bumps or traffic calming measures around it.
Despite a petition and cries for help from the school’s principal Helen Jones and Rosemarie Bennett of the Bordeaux North Community Forum, the Johannesburg Roads Agency has failed to see the urgency of implementing traffic calming measures. Jones said, “Although there is a pedestrian traffic light, the cars don’t stop or even slow down.”
The urgency was again highlighted on 6 February when a child was knocked over outside the school. This was the third incident where a child could have been killed. “Children’s safety comes first and if one of my pupils get killed, I will sue the roads agency,” said Jones.
Most of the pupils at the school use public transport and are forced to cross Main Street and Jan Smuts Avenue. In order to protect the children Jones has three general assistants helping the children cross the road safely.
Bennett added, “Most of the children’s parents do not live in the suburb and are unaware of the struggles we have faced with the roads agency. Therefore I feel it is my duty to fight for the safety of the children.”
Following the submission of the petition, the road agency’s operations manager for traffic engineering, Esther Schmidt, compiled a report in June last year to determine the validity of the request for traffic calming. Several recommendations were made including converting the existing signalised block pedestrian crossing to a raised pedestrian crossing and building a raised speed platform between St Andrews and Maxwell avenues. The total cost was calculated at R50 000.
MMC for Transport councillor Christine Walters approved these recommendations, however no funds have been made available in the city council’s 2013/2014 complete street funds budget.
Ward 102 councillor David Potter said, “I am disappointed the installation of these traffic calming measures has not been prioritised in the budget. I will continue to highlight the urgency and put pressure on city council to deliver.”
Jones added the school has very limited operational funds and cannot afford to pay for the traffic calming.
Details: Bordeaux Primary School 011 789 2802.
