McBride Street a cause for concern for locals
McBride Street is described as a death trap as motorists are said to drive at high speed, putting the lives of others at risk.
For years, McBride Street in Brackenhurst has become a safety concern for residents, especially with Revival City College situated on the street.
The street is described as a death trap as motorists drive at high speed, despite the road being a 30km per hour zone, putting the lives of others at risk.
Karen van den Oever, operational director of Revival City College, said just recently, a motorist hit the trees near their school.
She said they try to never let children play too close to the fence just in case a similar accident of that nature occurs.
“If you come down McBride Street from the Spur going towards Dis-Chem, you will see that it’s a 30 km per hour zone, but I don’t think people see that sign. People come down there at the speed of light, from 60 km/h. Some drive at 80 to 90km/h,” she said.
Van den Oever told the RECORD that the bend found on McBride Street is almost like a ‘blind bend’ as they have previously seen accidents occur there.
“At that bend, cars slow down to turn into the college, sometimes they back up because there’s one or two going in at the time. We have had accidents there, even before the school was there, where people did not make that turn but instead drove into the fence,” she said.
Safety measures
Van den Oever also said a neighbouring business has had to place a metal fence to try to prevent people from mounting the pavement and hitting their walls.
“We try not to let parents drop their children and cross the road because it’s far too dangerous. But as the school grows it will become more of a problem because there will be children from around the area who will want to walk home,” she said.
Speed control
According to van den Oever, together with the community, they have asked the council even before the school was built to have speed humps built at McBride Street.
“One of the responses we got was that there has never been a fatal accident. So my fear is do we have to wait for that fatal accident to happen before something gets done?” she said.
Ward 38 councillor Malcolm Maifala-Masebe reiterated that the City of Ekurhuleni once rejected a petition to erect a speed hump near Revival City College.
“It appears that throughout the year, the Department of Roads only visited the site once, and at the best-controlled time of the day. The department argues that in the mornings the school has made provision to allow for better flow of traffic. However, having spoken to affected parties, we can confirm that the situation has not improved,” he said.
CoE’s response
City’s spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said that the Roads and Stormwater Department responded to this request on many occasions from as far as 2009.
In a statement, the Department of Roads and Stormwater assured that the matter of motorists not adhering to the speed limit will be referred to the EMPD.
“It has been noted that the speed limit along McBride Street is 60 km/h. The road has been clearly marked with the slowdown warning and a concealed entrance sign has been provided along the curve. These traffic-calming measures are considered sufficient to calm the traffic,” it stated.
