New island might cause more problems than anticipated
in spite of the new traffic island erected in Piet Retief Street, motorists continue to break the law.
The new traffic island in front of Rob Ferreira Hospital’s entrance, which forces motorists only to turn left when exiting, might be causing more problems down the road.
Read more here: Illegal turns now something of the past
Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) erected the island in Piet Retief Street to prevent drivers from turning right when exiting the hospital and Sonpark Shopping Centre. A high number of accidents were caused by those turning right since it was on a blind rise. Those turning right also caused traffic to be backed up.
The new island was built to prevent motorists from doing so. However, they now make U-turns further down the road, at De Villiers Street, where there was an even more dangerous blind rise. These cars still caused traffic to be backed up as they waited to make U-turns. Another problem was that some cars exiting Sonpark still turned right, which was even more dangerous now that the island is in the way.
Upon questioning, MLM responded by saying that it had not yet monitored the effect of the island as it still needed to complete the exit from Sonpark.
Regarding the issue of the dangerous U-turns, it said it was the responsibility of the traffic department to fine those making U-turns at this location.
