Out-of-service traffic lights in Midrand cause havoc for motorists
A frustrated Glen Austin resident Yvette Page believes the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport officials are not doing their work to ensure traffic lights function properly.
Driving in Midrand’s Halfway House suburb is a hassle on its own because of the volume of traffic. And non-functioning traffic lights make matters worse as robots on Pretoria Main and Old Pretoria Main roads have not been working for over a year.
In an article [week ending 14 April, 2023], the daily commute was already bad due to the broken traffic lights, which at that time out of service for about six months.
To date, no efforts have been made to fix them. The traffic lights on the corner of Pretoria Main Road and West Street have also been problematic for motorists coming out of Glen Austin AH, Ivory Park, Kaalfontein, Ebony Park and Allandale.
Other traffic lights that have not been working include the one on Pretoria Main Road and Johnnic Boulevard, Pretoria Main and Old Pretoria Main Roads. This has been a challenge to many motorists and pedestrians who have to endure long traffic jams going to and from work.
A resident who uses West Road to Pretoria from Glen Austin Yvette Page said the robots were a headache as during peak hours she has to leave earlier than her usual time. “When I drive to work which is about 8kms away, I pass about four broken or non-functioning traffic lights. Now I am forced to leave early so that I avoid traffic hassles because of these robots. This does not look good.”
She said sometimes the Le Roux Avenue and Allandale Road traffic lights are out of service for up to six months. “There have been a couple of accidents that I came across in the robots in Midrand were at non-functioning traffic lights. Our town has been challenged with the traffic lights and those responsible for maintenance seem to be not doing their job. The traffic lights have been neglected for far too long now,” concluded Page.
Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport spokesperson Lesiba Mpya was contacted via email on January 10 and followed up again on January 15, but no response to the paper’s media query had been received at the time of going to print.
In the email The Midrand Reporter asked what measures are in place to ensure the robots are back to normal functionality and how often do the traffic signals/robots get monitored to ensure they work properly.
Related articles: Traffic lights on busy Midrand road out of order for a year
New R55 robots to curb accidents and need for CCTV to fight crime
