Slowly but surely annoying flashing traffic lights will stay switched on
Ward 94 councillor David Foley believes traffic light issues could be a thing of the past if the province allows JRA to take over.
In January last year, Ward 94 councillor David Foley wrote a letter to Kedibone Diale, the MEC for Gauteng Roads and Transport, to express his concerns about the poor condition of several provincial roads in Fourways and the surrounding areas.
Foley highlighted dysfunctional traffic lights, potholes, and uncut grass along Winnie Mandela Drive, Main Road, Cedar Road, and Erling Road in an email sent to the office of the MEC, as previously reported.
He said these roads were under provincial administration and needed urgent attention at the time.
Read more: Traffic light at a busy intersection of William Nicole Drive and Robert Bruce Road finally fixed
“Traffic lights at the various intersections are the responsibility of the province and are not working regularly. It takes weeks to months to get them attended to although a turnaround time is 14 days as per communication of the Department of Roads and Transport. There have been many accidents at various intersections because of the non-functioning of the traffic lights.”
While following up on any developments made after Foley’s email to the MEC, he said a meeting was held on February 23, with the signal team from the provincial roads department alongside Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), and Fourways businesses.
During their meeting, they discussed the benefits of collaborating which included safety, convenience, sustainability, asset protection, and enhanced experiences for the community
Foley said an agreement to facilitate all the JRA traffic lights to be connected to the various uninterruptible power systems of Fourways Mall, Steyn City and Monte Casino was reached.
Read more: Smart traffic lights to support emergency services
“The idea is to ensure that traffic flows smoothly from the N1 down the R511, Cedar Road and Witkoppen all around the shopping centres by having all the traffic lights working plus the street lights from a safety perspective.”
He said that even though the issues of potholes, and uncut grasses alongside the roads have been resolved, the traffic light scenario has not improved as there is a 14-day repair timeline which is exceeded by weeks or even months in some cases.
“I have engaged with the management and it is a simple case of having to manage 400 traffic signals in the area with limited budget and limited resources. In my opinion, these responsibilities should be handed back to the JRA as the team is excellent at fixing the traffic lights.”
Questions were sent to the spokesperson in the Department of Roads and Transport Lesiba Mpya via email and comment will be published as and when it becomes available.
Related article: Authorities to hand over traffic lights responsibilities to local shopping centres
