THE death of a Greenwood Park resident has prompted renewed calls to the eThekwini Municipality to install traffic calming measures on Effingham Road.

Last week, distraught family members and residents held a candlelight vigil for Debra Catin, who was killed on Friday, May 6 after being struck by a vehicle while walking on the pavement on Effingham Road.

Residents say a recent request to the Ethekwini Traffic Authority (ETA) was turned down weeks before the tragedy.
They are now demanding immediate action from the city saying the road warrants speed calming measures.

Mark Rampono, who lives next door to Catin, said her loss has hit the community hard.

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“It is like losing a family member. We are a very close knit community and I know Debra and her family well. What makes this so tragic is she was walking on the pavement when the accident happened.

“The requests for speed humps is a longstanding one, and about a month ago, we had a request turned down, saying the road did not meet the criteria for traffic-calming measures. Speeding on this road is a massive problem and needs urgent attention,” he said.

Andrew Akkers, another resident, echoed Rampono’s sentiments, saying he felt their community was overlooked.

“We have been requesting traffic -calming measures for Effingham Road for more than a decade. In their rejection of our application, the Municipality failed to take into consideration the number of courier and distribution companies that have set up shop in Riverhorse Valley in recent times. This area has also seen a significant increase in vehicular traffic in recent years.

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“When you contrast our area to Durban North, where nearly every road has speed humps, we feel we are being overlooked. The community’s question to the municipality is ‘are residents lives expendable?’ and are we not as important as our Durban North neighbours? How many more innocent lives must be taken before we get these much needed traffic calming measures?” Akkers questioned.

The residents also argued that heavy motor vehicles from warehouses along Prince Mhlangana Road and elsewhere should not be allowed to use Effingham Road as a thoroughfare.

“We want the ETA to conduct a proper assessment of the increased traffic volumes along Effingham Rd and the difficulties residents face when trying to join Effingham Road from the intersecting residential roads,” Akkers said.