Graham Heunis, Plumstead
There has been another serious accident in Dick Burton Street.
I have tried every-thing within my powers to bring the seriousness of the situation to the municipality’s attention.
This accident happened on Saturday December 10. So, mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron’s ludicrous explanation (“Traffic trouble”, Bulletin April 21) and (“Poor service delivery”, Bulletin April 28) that the traffic volume is due to the schools in the area is laughable.
As for our two absent ward councillors, the less said the better.
What is the council waiting for, a fatal accident?
I have compiled a substantial dossier on this subject, detailing the correspondence I have had with councillors and the press and their responses. Should there be an accident that results in a death or critical injury, I will certainly make it available to the parties concerned to use as evidence of council negligence.
I am sure that if this was a case in Tokai or Constantia, we would have a completely different response. Now we in Plumstead know where we are in the pecking order.
The DA has become the same as the ANC: arrogant.
Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, responds:
The City of Cape Town’s traffic-calming policy aims to protect the most vulnerable road users, with roads adjacent to and leading to schools being the primary focus of attention.
This being the case, a systematic programme is in place for the treatment of all educational facilities over the next few years as a priority, which will not permit Transport for Cape Town (TCT) to investigate and implement calming measures at other locations.
Speeding is a universal issue throughout the Cape Town metropolitan area and therefore cannot be used in its entirety to justify the need for traffic calming.
The City uses land-use activity and crash history in determining risk potential over the numerous traffic calming applications received daily. Dick Burton Road connects Victoria Road (M38) to Prince George Drive (M5) and is a vital link in the greater road network.
Dick Burton Road has a length of approximately 1km and has four strategically located all-way stop con-
trols. There is a raised intersection at the Mil-
ford Road all-way stop intersection adjacent to the John Graham School property. The road has a width of 6m and the verges have a generous width of between 3m and 6m and there is a Class 1 non-motorised tran-
sport cycle and pedes-trian facility along the length of the road, which further enhances the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.
Numerous ad-hoc observations have taken place and most motorists were observed to be travelling at acceptable speeds. Typically, if motorists do not stop at the stop controls, they will come to a rolling stop. Traffic services have undertaken enforcement of stop controls in the area on an ad-hoc basis.
The schools abutting Dick Burton Road both front onto the side roads, namely Milford Road and Churchill Road, which already have traffic calming measures. The City’s traffic calming policy directive is to implement traffic calming measure close to all school entrances as a priority before considering alternative routes to schools. The remainder of the Dick Burton Road does not comply with that directive and will not be considered further for traffic-calming measures.
Not all accidents are attributed to speeding; there can be many other influencing factors.
We will ask traffic services to conduct further enforcement.
