I hate traffic lights. I hate them when they’re working and I especially hate them when they’re not. I know it’s pointless being a ‘when-we’, but I do fondly remember the days when there were no traffic lights at all in the Ballito/Salt Rock area.

Nowadays I get a little attack of nerves when approaching an intersection. If the lights are working, then I don’t want to be first in line. When the light turns green, shall I go now? Or must I wait a little in case some idiot jumps the red? No prizes for guessing which idiots jump the red.

And speaking of taxis, guaranteed they will be ‘creeping’ the red, so they’re halfway across the intersection before it turns green. Where are the traffic cops to stop this behaviour? Nowhere to be seen. I cannot remember when I last saw a traffic cop actually doing something. Apart from snoozing under a tree.

Intersections are actually more manageable when the lights aren’t working and become four-way stops, with some notable exceptions, such as the lights at the Salt Rock N2 off-ramp that have not been working for at least six months. At peak periods, about four times a day, cars tail back right onto the highway. Cars travelling at 120 km/h coming up on cars standing still. Do we have to wait until someone dies before fixing them?

According to our esteemed municipality, there is no budget left. Really, is that the best excuse they have? But they can find more than R1-million to hire cars for the mayor and deputy mayor this year. Old truism: ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’.

My question is, why do we have traffic lights at all?

Traffic lights cost about R700 000 to install, plus the electricity to run them. Then there is the cost of replacing them, because people knock them over (see ‘idiots’ above). That happens to the Lifestyle lights with monotonous regularity. Then there is loadshedding and other forms of power failures, so they don’t work. The regulations say there’s supposed to be solar and battery backups, but ja well no fine, this is Africa.

The answer is traffic circles, or roundabouts. I know I once scorned the little circle next to the BP garage because it’s so tiny, but you know what? It works! Traffic circles work day and night, rain or shine, power on or off. They laugh at electricity.

By comparison, circles cost about R2.5-million. That’s a once-off cost. With some gardens or artwork in the middle, they are aesthetically pleasing and cheap to run. And the slowed-down traffic flows all day and all night, rain or shine, power on or off!

Road designers will say “Ooh, they take up so much space!’ Yes, I suppose they do take up more than lights, but are we in danger of running out of land in South Africa? Europe has had them forever, and that’s a pretty crowded place. If you watch the Tour de France, they are all over, even on major roads.

A road designer told me that circles like those in Umhlanga Rocks Drive are not efficient because taxis (them again!) think nothing of stopping in the middle to offload passengers. My reply to that is: get more traffic cops. Educate drivers. Stop being wishy-washy about enforcing the law. Who is in charge here?

Asking around, I learned that the new intersection at the upgraded Seaton/Zululami bridge will not have a circle. Sanral ‘doesn’t approve of’ circles within 600 metres of a bridge intersection. I asked the department of transport for an explanation of their policy on the matter. They didn’t reply.

Word is, plans are in the pipeline for a major upgrade of the Salt Rock interchange. It’s inevitable, given the enormous growth in traffic these past few years, though it will be painful for a while. No idea when it will happen.

On another matter, it’s heartening to see new life being breathed in to Docrra, the ratepayers association. It stuttered along for years, a good idea with nowhere to go. The AGM  at Salt Rock club last week was an eye-opener for the level of organisation and professionalism. Last summer’s power failures in particular have ‘electrified’ the community. Before then, wild horses couldn’t drag us apathetic residents to an AGM, so a turnout of 300 is nothing short of astonishing.

Well done to Deon Viljoen and his team. If you aren’t a member, do yourself and everyone a favour and join up. It’s only a click away.

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