No quick fix for traffic problems at Jeugland

THERE is no short-term solution for the current traffic problems at Hoërskool Jeugland.

A meeting was held at the school on March 8 to review the traffic impact study done by the metro in order to ease the traffic flow on Christoffel Street in front of the school.

“I want to give my gratitude to the representative of the roads and storm water department, Clement Maphanga, and Clr Jaco Terblanche, who led the meeting in a very professional manner. Unfortunately, very few of the community and parents attended the meeting but various opinions were raised by those who did attend,” said the principal of Hoërskool Jeugland, Dr David Morris.

“This is only the start of a lot of hard work that will go into this project and we hope that the community and parents will support us in a productive manner,” he added.

“Most parents opt to personally drop their children off and pick them up on Christoffel Street. This has resulted in a drastic increase of vehicles using this road on a daily basis and it led to a safety hazard,” commented ward councillor Terblanche.

As a result of the study several proposals were made, including a drop-off zone on the open grounds across the school entrance on Christoffel Street. This will ease traffic flow and make it safer for children to cross the road, while Zenith Road can be converted into a one-way.

One side of the road can be used for parking and the other side for driving, in an effort to increase traffic flow.

The governing body of Hoërskool Jeugland also proposed that Christoffel Street be converted to a class 4 road with a solid red line on the southern side in front of the school. It has also been recommended that the school converts part of the school grounds to accommodate a number of parallel-parking bays.

Another measure to be considered is to rezone the park to a parking area and assign it to Jeugland. A traffic-calming circle can also be installed, or a speed hump in front of the school wide enough to allow learners to walk across it. Another speed hump can be installed at the corner of Christoffel Street and Zenith Road to ensure motorists reduce speed when turning into Christoffel Street.

The school can also appoint school patrollers and conduct an independent traffic study.

“The other option to be considered is the conversion of Zenith Road to a permanent one-way street with one lane for mobility and one lane for parking of motorists, said acting divisional head from the roads and storm water department, Muziwandile Nkonyane.

“The direction of the one-way is proposed to be southbound. This proposal can only be realised if the buy-in of the residents, in particular those who reside in Zenith Road, can be obtained.”

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality confirmed that it would evaluate all these proposals.

“There is no quick fix for the problem. The only real short-term solution is to continuously request parents to adhere to the rules of the road. The medium to long-term solutions will in view of the department have limited success due to the location of such solutions and the limited extent available to meaningfully impact on the traffic congestion during school peak periods. For now, the school should embark on a regular awareness programme in order to highlight and entrench improved driver behaviour in parents,” said Nkonyane.

Improved law enforcement will also be present to assist and ensure compliance to the rules of the road.