Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) acting head of department under mobility and freight Sipho Nhlapo says the traffic circle at The Straight Avenue and Forest Drive in Pineslopes meets the required design standards for the road classifications.

This comes after Ward 93 councillor Vino Reddy raised concerns from residents who say the current design causes traffic congestion and is not working as intended. Reddy has suggested that the design be revised.

“It’s not being seen as an issue by some, but I do believe it is one. If a car takes so long to turn, you can imagine what a truck has to do.” Reddy suggested widening the road on one side or slightly reducing the size of the traffic circle.

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However, Nhlapo defended the design. He said The Straight Avenue is classified as a class 4 local collector road, and Forest Drive is a class five commercial/residential access street. He said the circle was designed for normal use, which means it must be able to handle buses during everyday operations.

Nhlapo added that the circle’s size is in line with design standards. He said the traffic circle at the road has an inscribed circle diameter of 33m and a circulating roadway width of between 10.5m and 11m, in line with the design standards for the class of roads.

He said the circle was deliberately built with flexibility for larger vehicles. “The circle is constructed with mountable kerbs to accommodate the occasional vehicle, larger than the design vehicle, to partially cross the circle.”

Nhlapo said road design is a systematic process, carefully matched to road function. “Road design is a systematic process where geometric features, lane width, corner radii, and intersection type, are precisely engineered to match a road’s function and classification.

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“A local access road prioritises low speeds and pedestrian safety, while an arterial road focuses on moving higher volumes of traffic efficiently. Traffic circles are calibrated for their specific context.

On a collector road, a traffic circle design is to physically enforce slow entry and exit speeds, preserving the road’s function of distributing traffic safely from local streets.”

Altering the design to favour larger trucks would compromise safety, he warned.

“This fundamentally alters the road’s character, increasing vehicle speeds and crossing distances for pedestrians, thereby degrading safety and contradicting its intended purpose.

“Compromising a road’s design for vehicles unsuitable for its class undermines this system, leading to unintended consequences that negatively impact the surrounding environment and the network’s overall performance. Design must serve the road’s primary function, not exceptional vehicles.”

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