Traffic issues on Albert st persist

The traffic woes on Albert Street in Weltevreden Park seem to be far from over.

Jennifer Tolmay, who lives right on the bend on Albert Street has been trying since November to get traffic-calming measures in place so that motorists would slow down and be more cautious.

“The only thing that has been done on this corner is that yellow lines have been painted. Since then we have had numerous ‘almost’ accidents as well as two quite serious ones, one which happened on January 19! This is now becoming a huge concern not only for our safety but also for the safety of pedestrians and other drivers.”

Tolmay said it has been five months since they began raising this issue with the ward councillor and JRA, and unfortunately they believe that the matter will only be taken seriously once there has been a fatality. “I do not want another phone call or email stating that this is driver negligence because that is even more of a reason to take action and sort this out. I do not want to have another person drive into my wall, or even worse, come through my wall and injure or kill one of my kids or family members.”

Ward 89 councillor, Leah Knott said she did enquired about getting speed cameras for Albert Street seeing that speed humps would not be approved in the locations requested. “I know they are going to start with guardrails and cats eyes from January 25 (weather permitting), but I do feel a camera is necessary here to address driver behaviour.

“I will be starting a petition to motivate my submission for such, and will send out a link this week to all residents in the area affected by this road or who are residing on it,” Knott revealed.

Lawrence Maseko from JRA said they were preparing for the installation of guardrails. “Cat eyes were just a suggestion. In terms of road regulations that road has all the necessary warning signs for motorists/ drivers.”