Million rand upgrades for Pretoria east intersection

The Justice Mahomed and Rupert street intersection in Brooklyn have received much-needed traffic relief after years of motorists struggling with traffic during peak hours, Rekord East reports.

Civil Concepts, the company that carried out the upgrades, said it took the initiative to upgrade the intersection after realising that it had been a headache for many road users.

“This intersection was problematic in terms of delays and traffic safety,” said spokesperson Wajahat Abbas Khan.

“Civil Concepts took the initiative to identify and mitigate these problems at the intersection with the assistance of funding from Abland.”

The major cause of traffic in the area was that vehicles driving straight and those turning shared the same lane. This caused traffic along Justice Mahomed Street to be impeded by the right turners.

Khan said the project, which took three months to complete, saw the provision of exclusive right-turn lanes on Justice Mahomed Street and Rupert Street which allowed the cars turning free flow.

Additional traffic signal heads were inserted and old ones replaced.

“We also did landscaping.”

He said 14 Jacaranda trees were cut for the project to be completed, but those were replaced by 55 others.

Pedestrian walkways were also created to allow people to walk safely.

Ward councillor Siobhan Muller said among the many fatal accidents at the intersection was one in which a pedestrian who was hit by a vehicle.

“I am extremely grateful that we have finally got the upgrades at a very deadly intersection,” she said.

“There have been many fatal accidents at the intersection.”

She said the intersection was too small for the volume of traffic it carried.

The traffic had improved since the upgrades said to have cost approximately R3,5-million.

Close to 50 people were employed during the project.

The intersection has also been the scene of fatal accidents over the years.