Busy intersection requires speed calming, says resident

ANOTHER accident on Trematon Drive in Morningside has sparked a volley of protest with local resident, Tony Chaperon calling for urgent action to be taken to curb speeding motorists.

According to Chaperon, an accident occurred on the road, near Morningside Primary School on 15 August around 9am. The passenger of the vehicle was entrapped in the front of the car and suffered serious injuries. He said another accident had occurred in the same spot a few weeks previously.

“The accidents are now getting to be weekly events. The powers that be continue to be adamant that nothing will be done. They have made all the excuses in the world as to why a circle would not meet the requirements of their antiquated traffic laws,” he said.

Chaperon said the alternative was traffic lights at the intersection of Trematon and Burman Drive, but he questioned when the municipality would even consider erecting these.

“Must more blood be spilled and another life taken before they eventually do something. This must be one of the worst four-way intersections in Durban and yet nothing is done about it. The Municipality is going to spend millions on a Soccer Academy and Commonwealth games when every day lives are a stake at this extremely busy intersection. Who decides what is a priority in the Department?” he asked.

The problems experienced at the intersection have been featured in Berea Mail many times. Following a horror accident in the road in March, local councillor Martin Meyer said he had been warning the city of the problem since 2011, as had councillors Avrille Coen and Prof George Devenish before him.

At the time, he said he had engaged with the various departments, and would continue to ask for measures to be taken.

In response to queries from Berea Mail, Nkululeko Phewa from eThekwini Transport Authority, said the main reason why a roundabout was not supported on Trematon Drive was because it was a high order road. He said eThekwini Municipality’s Traffic Calming Policy stated that no form of traffic calming would be supported on a class three road, and that the ETA roundabout policy also stated that a roundabout would not be supported on a high order road.

“I have looked at all the options that we have to improve the situation along Trematon Road. As Trematon Road is classified as a class three, speed humps cannot be supported. A warrant was undertaken at the same intersection for traffic signals and it was also not supported. All the requisite signage is in place along that section of the road and I will now forward this to Metro Police for enforcement,” he said.