Frustration over Snake Road upgrades eases
Motorists will soon breath a sigh of relief, as work has commenced on correcting lane demarcations on the recently upgraded stretch of Snake and Pretoria roads.
According to South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) general manager of communications Vusi Mona, the work is expected to resolve the current traffic flow issues experienced by motorists.
‘‘Corrective work commenced yesterday (October 3) and is expected to be substantially completed by today (October 4),’’ said Mona.
‘‘There is some sandblasting required to remove some markings, and that will be done in the next week.
‘‘The corrective work is limited to road marking revisions and additions and is expected to resolve the traffic flow issues being experienced.’’
Several motorists criticised the recently upgraded section of roads due to the demarcations and timing of robots.
“We are back to the old traffic jams, as they were before the road construction,” said daily commuter Colin Frohlich.
“This is due to the most ridiculous lane demarcations being painted on the road, just before the robot intersection with Fifth Avenue.
“Ninety per cent of the traffic proceeding south, down Pretoria Road, comes down to two lanes towards the N12.”
He explained that the right hand lane becomes a dead end as it becomes a compulsory right hand turning lane into Fifth Avenue, with an island in front of it.
Another motorist, Tommy Gibson, explained that most of the traffic in the mornings is from the north, going onto the N12 west.
He said the right turning robot leaves ample time for the cars coming from the south, as it handles low volumes.
Mona said both Sanral and Ekurhuleni are responsible for parts of Pretoria Road, near the N12, and that an investigation revealed that the congestion was mainly caused by the road demarcations, and not a phasing issue with the robots.
