The corner of Peter Road and Van Dalen Road North in Ruimsig has had residents talking for a while as they are demanding the installation of traffic lights in order to reduce the number of accidents at the spot.
The board of directors from the Fever Tree Home Owners Association has been pushing this agenda for quite a while, judging by the string of communications on the issue between them, the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and the councillors for Ward 97, MMC for Economic Development, Leah Knott, and Ralf Bittkau.
Dennis Armstrong, a Fever Tree resident, highlighted the reasons for a traffic light. “There is a huge safety issue at this intersection and children’s lives are at risk. I urge you to try to turn right into Peter Road from Van Dalen Road North on any normal school-going morning and see what I am talking about,” he said, suggesting the officials experiment to experience what he is referring to.
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“People are reckless due to the pressure they are placed under by the signage all over the place, the increasing queue of hooting vehicles behind them and the oncoming traffic from Ruimsig estate ideally turning in the opposite direction to those going down Peter Road, while traffic is coming from both directions. Then to add fuel to the chaos, a taxi will stop in the intersection to drop off or pick up passengers,” he said, talking about his nightmarish experience as the survivor of an accident at the intersection.
Siyabonga Genu from JRA explained the hold-up on the project. “The request for traffic calming measures is included in our implementation plans. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough budget at this point to commence with the construction. However, we have requested additional budget from the City as part of the mid-term budget adjustment process. We will inform you and your community once we have the budget to commence with the construction.”
Armstrong said he hopes the budget process doesn’t take long, because the number of accidents at the intersection is increasing.
Armstrong’s associate, Martin van der Westhuizen, who has put up an online petition, is unhappy that other problem areas are being dealt with before theirs.
“Driving down John Voster Road in Randpark Ridge, we noticed that there was budget to install a slipway into JG Strydom Road, yet the JRA does not have funds available to erect raised pedestrian crossings to reduce speed at school entrances, where lives are at risk,” he criticised.
He also aired his dissatisfaction about the recent Integrated Development Plan (IDP) session that he attended, saying it had left him with a number of questions.
“I attended the IDP session this past week and no priority list could be provided by the facilitator for our session in Ward 97,” he said, having requested a copy of the JRA priority list for Ward 97, costs for the intersection and where in the list the Peter/Van Dalen Roads issue stands.
Leah provided clarity on a number of issues relating to intersection. “Van Dalen Road North was identified over a year ago and I engaged JRA who came out to do a traffic count and assessment of the intersection. They found that the intersection did qualify for a traffic light and it was put on the priority list,” she explained.
She also explained the different priority lists that the City compiles. “There is a regional priority list and a City-wide priority list. The region gets a certain amount of budget (which is actually not very big),” she said, indicating that in this financial year the region received about R3,5 million, which has to be spent across all 18 wards. “R3,5 million over 18 wards is not huge,” she said, “Already we have a traffic circle that’s been built in Ward 126 at a cost of almost a million rand,” she said.
She further emphasised that the intersection was put on the priority list alongside other items such as speed humps at a number of schools in Ruimsig and Honeydew. “But we have to wait for the list to progress as items are allocated budget, allowing those further down the list to move up,” Leah explained.
Leah, who symphathised with the frustrated residents, also reminded them that the main cause of accidents was poor driver behaviour, which is not isolated to Van Dalen Road North.
“What I’m trying to convey to the residents is that the accidents are not just isolated to Van Dalen Road North. We recently had a drunk driver who drove into a wall off Short and Pierre Streets, because he did not realise there was a T-junction. We’ve also had other similar accidents in the area,” she pointed out.
