Speed hump woes continue

Madam – I refer to the report on Traffic “calming” could save fencing in the Advertiser of 8 November 2013.

Council has already approved the allocation of 33 speed humps throughout Newcastle ie. 11 for Madadeni, 11 for oSizweni and 11 for Newcastle West for the current year.

It does not seem that the placing of these speed humps has been finally decided on.

As this affects the community, public meetings with the community (in good time) should be held to prioritise their placings and should not be left to the discretion of the ward councillor only.

Legally, certain criteria should be followed when deciding where speed humps should be positioned.

It should be noted that most speed humps in Newcastle do not comply with prescribed standards and they could be more of a danger than a safety precaution.

It is noted that the hawkers’ shelters referred to were built some time ago but have never yet been used for the purpose for which they were built. This is evident by the state of neglect of the property which may become money wasted on a white elephant.

One wonders that if this is the case, should the entire fence not just be removed, thus removing the obstruction to those drivers leaving the road.

HUMP HOG

Response from Mayor:

Special criteria and legislation are followed to place speed humps. It is not left to ward councillors alone, all they do is make suggestions to the traffic department based on community appeals.

The hawker shelter is a project that council is not entirely satisfied with. We are dealing with the issues as discussed in the last exco meeting.