WATCH: Faulty John Ross highway robots cause major traffic jam
Traffic was on Tuesday evening heavily backed up in both directions approaching the Alton intersection
EVENING rush-hour on the John Ross highway between Richards Bay and Empangeni was brought to a virtual standstill this evening (Tuesday) as non-functional robots at the Alton intersection caused a major traffic jam.
Commuters travelling in both directions were caught up in the severe backlog which, on the Empangeni-bound carriageway stretched almost to the Foskor intersection, while on the Richards Bay-bound carriageway traffic was backed up beyond the Mondi intersection.
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Whether it was load-shedding or faulty lights is not clear, but despite the peak rush-hour, no traffic officers were present.
The situation was compounded by some motorists attempting to create extra lanes down the middle of the two-lane carriageways and on the grass verges, while other vehicles overheated and broke down.
The usual 20 minute trip from Empangeni to Richards Bay and vice versa was at least doubled.
This was the second traffic jam on this stretch of the John Ross in two days after a jackknifed truck cause severe delays during Monday morning rush-hour on the Empangeni-bound carriageway, with no traffic officers present to divert motorists off at Alton and back on at the Mondi intersection.
The City of uMhlathuze has previously said it had plans to create more, much-needed posts within the traffic department.
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