Road user reaches his red light
Madam – Recently the Kirkland Street intersection was completed to improve the traffic flow in Newcastle, or so we assume. How ironic is it then that the intersection of Hardwick and Allen street has now been changed as far as traffic light sequencing is concerned. The light timing from Hardwick to Victoria has been reduced …
Madam – Recently the Kirkland Street intersection was completed to improve the traffic flow in Newcastle, or so we assume.
How ironic is it then that the intersection of Hardwick and Allen street has now been changed as far as traffic light sequencing is concerned. The light timing from Hardwick to Victoria has been reduced to 12 seconds and the turn signal has been moved as well.
This timing means that in effect, three cars are able to cross the intersection, unless of course you are unfortunate enough to be behind someone whose reaction time is at least three seconds.Traffic is thus backed up to Kirkland Street in peak times.
Phoning the traffic department is a waste of time, they say it isn’t their job and the electrical department says the installation was done by a Durban company and they can’t do anything about it. So tell me what do you do when the system goes down?
Wait for someone from Durban to come up and sort it out? Would you take this type of lack of service from a company where you go to spend your ‘hard earned money’?
As far as I am aware, it is a PLC system and any electrician worth their mettle will be able to re-programme it correctly.
The attitude of the traffic department is that people should just ‘be patient’ because they can’t be bothered to sort the problem out. For them it’s much easier to congregate in one area, preferably on a Sunday morning and check driver’s licenses and check cars for expired licence and a broken tail light.
When it comes to the actual safety and traffic flow of the town and anything else to do with ALL traffic, then people are just left to their own devices.
Traffic department, you are making it very difficult for those of us who abide by the rules of the road to actually take you seriously and respect you. If a business was run with the same attitude that you have towards your work ethic then it wouldn’t be long before the doors closed.
gatvol road user
Comment from Mayor, Afzul Rehman:
I will look into the matter immediately.
