Graham Heunis, Plumstead
I recently conducted a traffic volume survey and came up with the following result, 296 vehicles in 15 minutes equating to approximately 1 000 vehicles an hour.
No this survey was not conducted on Sir Lowry Pass on an Easter Weekend, it was done in an off peak time at 2pm in a very narrow street in the heart of Plumstead.
Dick Burton Street has become a nightmare and it is only a matter of time before there is a fatal accident.
I have had numerous near misses trying to get in or out of my driveway.
The stretch of road between Woodgate and Milford roads is particularly bad.
The Traffic Department and our local councillor both seem to lack the interest or will to rectify this problem, as a matter of fact our councillor is conspicuous by her absence.
Must the residents of Dick Burton street once again have to resort to parking their vehicles legally in the road and thereby cause total chaos.
We have done it once before as it seems that is the only language the authorities understand.
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The root cause of this problem is South Road and through civil action the residents got their way, despite the fact that they were aware of the South Road project and that the houses had been expropriated more than 30 years ago.
I implore the powers that be to act now before it is to late.
Blob Mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, responds:
There are at least four schools situated in the vicinity of Dick Burton Street in Plumstead: Saint Anne’s Primary School, Plumstead Preparatory School, Plumstead High School and John Graham Primary School.
One can safely assume that a significant number of pupils are dropped off and fetched by their parents on weekday mornings and afternoons. This explains the high number of vehicles that the resident has counted along Dick Burton Street at around 2pm.
Even though two of the schools do not border directly onto Dick Burton Street, this road does provide a convenient access way to Victoria Road, which could be one of the reasons why this road is a preferred route among motorists.
On March 31, the City of Cape Town’s Council approved the conceptual design of the MyCiTi route T12 between Mitchell’s Plain and Claremont and a portion of route T11 from Khayelitsha to the intersection of Strandfontein Road and New Ottery Road in Ottery.
Transport for Cape Town (TCT), the City’s transport authority, will now proceed with the detail design process along the proposed route alignments.
Importantly, the conceptual design that served before Council does not include the Wynberg section as this part of Phase 2A of the MyCiTi service is subject to a final court ruling. It is too early to assert that the residents along South Road “got their way”.
Blob: Sub-council chairperson for Ward 18, Monty Oliver, responds: The Plumstead suburb is served by three councillors and it is often not clear which section is headed by which councillor.
I basically serve the lower end of Dick Burton Road, the section from Lympleigh down to the M5.
Be that is it may I am by copy of this email asking Brendon Fortuin, Head Roads and Stormwater in the Plumstead area, and Mark Harding, Chief Inspector Traffic, to advise in this matter. They should be able to tell you what plans there are in place for upgrading of roads and traffic volumes in the area.
Blob Yolanda Mileham-Schuller, Principal Inspector of the Traffic Operations: Area West 2, responds: Dick Burton joins the M5 and Victoria Road hence the heavier traffic flow, the same as De Waal and M5 to the Main Road, and every other arterial route that feeds traffic volumes through suburbs. The main reason for the heavy traffic volume from 2pm to 3pm is due to school pupils being picked up as there are quite a few Pre-Primary, Primary and High Schools in Plumstead. This flow eases off and begins again during the peak.
Traffic Services can only enforce as any up-grades regarding road infrastructure etc will be considered by the Roads Department.
Inspector Jansen has been asked to arrange stop street enforcement in Dick Burton Road and provide feedback by Friday April 22.
