The frequent, high impact car crashes on Pretoria and Victoria streets in Oaklands may see a decline in the coming months, as Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) aims to put traffic calming measures in place.

Frustrated by constant car crashes, resident Natalia Morse said herself and other members of the community, including a local veterinary, spearheaded the petition process to get JRA involved. Speaking during an evening public meeting at Vintage and Veteran Club House on July 9, JRA’s operations manager in the traffic engineer department Esther Schmidt admitted that the gathering was necessitated by petitions received.

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“When we received the petition, we conducted the engineering and technical investigation. Our recommendation was we could not support a four-way stop on Victoria Road, due to it being a class 2 arterial road. The volumes coming from Victoria Street were significantly lower than what is recorded on Pretoria Street.” A class 2 road is a high-capacity urban road that connects major regions within a metropolitan area.

The operation manager added that, as a response to the Oaklands residents’ petition, JRA’s engineers studied the available accident records of the area. “These revealed that 32% of the crashes were right-angled, which meant a vehicle which was moving straight was being hit on the side, which could mean motorists driving into Victoria Street were not being observant enough, misjudging the gaps in the traffic, or being impatient.

“28% of the car crashes were site swipe, which happened when a motorist from Pretoria Street wanted to turn right into Victoria Street and was hit by a vehicle in the opposite direction.”

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Schmidt said JRA’s suggestion came to potentially putting a back-to-back curb or centre island along Pretoria and Kruger streets, approximately 30m past Victoria Street, to improve the safety of the intersection by limiting right turns and through movements.

“The barrier would stop crossing into Victoria Street, but encourage motorists to drive to an existing signal, being a traffic light, and cross safely there.”

She stated that if JRA did not receive objections, the petition committee would be informed, which would proceed with the proposal on the basis of the feedback from the public meeting. “If we receive objections, a decision of how we move forward will be taken by the petition committee which sits quarterly. The timing of a solution works in our favour now, since it is the beginning of the financial year, and the trial solution is not an expensive capital outlet.”

Schmidt noted that, should everything go well, funding would be loaded in the system, which would see the trial begin in August.

Ward 74 councillor Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjuku concluded that it was a relief to see that JRA was on board in wanting to assist the community in finding a solution to the many high impact crashes on the roads.

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