LETTERS: Ballito traffic woes

Sitting in a traffic jam recently gave me time to think about the future of what used to be “our little holiday town” and what is fast becoming a “big town”.
The gigantic new centre that is evolving will attract many more people and will change Ballito drastically next year as far as traffic flow is concerned, among other issues.
It would be interesting to know whether town planners have plans in place of improving roads and traffic flow in Ballito before we have an onslaught.
There are local residents, holidaymakers and now the visitors to Ballito that will have to be taken into consideration. The roads around the area are hopelessly inadequate. For example, the existing circles around the Lifestyle centre and the Ballito Bay Mall and the circle on Ballito drive that cause huge issues with traffic at certain times of the day.
Added to that, the dangerous (yet allowed) habit of people crossing Ballito drive from Lifestyle centre wherever they feel like to reach taxis. A fence should have been erected on the centre island to prevent this practice in the first place.
Whilst on the subject of roads, would an affordable bus service like Durban’s Mynah (in the good old days) not relieve a lot of traffic issues? Running from the centre of Ballito to the R102 to Umhali, Salt Rock, along the beach road and then back up to Ballito. Members of the public could hop on and off at venues of their choice, reducing traffic on the roads.
This may even assist the pedestrians who have to walk on the busy roads to get to the train station, as there is no transport to that area.
Planning is vital in a growing town like Ballito, and simply cannot be ignored.
If there are plans, could the public be notified through the medium of a newspaper like this?
M COMBRICK