A LOCAL resident has welcomed the news that Lothian Road in Park Hill is among several roads that have been approved for the installation of speed humps.

Thames Place (Athlone), Anthony Road (Athlone), Lancaster Grove (Park Hill), Buxton Road (Park Hill) as well as Chicks Drive and Buttery Road (Park Hill) are among the roads listed for speed calming measures.

The funding for the projects has been secured through the Community Infrastructure Projects (CIP), which funds repairs and construction based on councillor submissions.

Related article: Six roads in Durban North earmarked for speed humps

Ellysa Entwistle, has lost more than 10 pets and seen a number of animals, such as monkeys, genets and mongooses killed in their numbers over the years due to what she says is speeding along the road.

“As a family we are so happy and relieved at the news. This is going to benefit not only residents but also the wildlife crossing the road to the Seaton Park Nature Reserve. About 12 years ago we approached our neighbours with a petition and most of them signed it, saying Lothian Road needed speed humps. In fact we were even willing to go as far as funding them ourselves.

“This is wonderful news and I do hear residents speak about law enforcement stepping up, but they can’t patrol every road and we have to go the route of speed calming measures. To know that funding has been made available is also a massive plus,” she said.

Meanwhile Heinz de Boer, the Ward 36 councillor, explained how the process for the speed hump requests worked.

“The CIP budget is an annual budget of R3m and is allocated to every single ward across eThekwini. It is a discretionary allocation fund made available in which the councillor, in consultation with the community, recommends how the money should be spent. There are certain criteria and guidelines on what the funds can be spent on.

“I know there will be unhappiness that some roads residents were hoping to have speed calming measured on were not approved. It is important to understand that eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) has to approve the roads for speed calming before any service providers and the project managers can implement them, which means that problematic roads like Old Mill Way and Hoylake Drive were not given the go-ahead,” he said.

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