According to the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA), speed humps are a major problem for emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines, and may also result in the relocation of the problem to adjacent streets, but residents can request traffic-calming measures.
The agency’s spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers said a structured analysis procedure enables the municipality to determine, as objectively as possible, whether it is appropriate to install traffic calming measures on a given street or in a given neighbourhood. It also includes what type of measures should be used to achieve the desired objectives in terms of speed reduction and increased safety. She explained, “The goal is to assess the problem and confirm that excessive speed is the issue. Traffic and speed studies are conducted. The analysis also looks at accidents as well as the geometric characteristics of the road and its function, such as the type of users, transit artery, bus routes, residential local road, commercial street and more.”
A public consultation is included in the analysis and allows residents to express their thoughts and concerns.
Peters-Scheepers said engineers will generally implement traffic calming, such as speed humps, raised pedestrian crossings and mini-circles only in some circumstances.
Calming measure will be installed only if none of the following is applicable:
- Not in front of entrances
- Not in the shade of trees and other physical objects during the day
- Not where they are not illuminated by street lighting at night
- Not on gradients in excess of 6 percent
- Not on gravel roads as they cannot be painted and there is no street lighting
- Not on designated public transport routes
- Not within a specified distance of other control mechanisms such as traffic signals.
Details: www.jra.org.za
