Residents along St Audley Road launch a petition to tackle speeding on a dangerous bend
With accidents continuing and night-time racing increasing, residents have launched a petition calling for traffic calming measures at the dangerous bend on St Audley Road in Bryanston.
Residents of St Audley Road in Bryanston are stepping up efforts to address ongoing safety concerns, launching a formal petition to push for traffic calming measures after a series of crashes on the busy suburban road.
Richard Meyer, whose home has been repeatedly affected by accidents on the sharp bend, said while recent interventions have helped, they fall short of addressing the root problem.
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“Fortunately, our wall is rebuilt now following an accident that occurred over the Easter weekend. Thankfully, JRA has put up a lovely guardrail here to protect our house on this dangerous bend,” Meyer said. “However, we still strongly believe that we need traffic calming measures for this road.”
Meyer added that reckless driving remains a daily concern, with another car crash reported this morning.
“It’s a very busy road with a lot of speeding vehicles. This morning [April 26], we had another accident at 23 St Audley Road. As residents, we believe that traffic calming measures like speed humps and possibly a traffic circle further down the road, closer to where the schools are, would help.
“There are five schools in this area, and I really think, judging by the number of accidents that have happened already on this road, the next one could be a danger to someone’s life, including all the children in this area.”
In a previous article published by Sandton Chronicle on April 21, JRA’s acting head of mobility and freight, Sipho Nhlapo, said, “Should speed humps be deemed technically viable, a formal petition, registered by residents, will still be required to demonstrate community support for the intervention, in line with the City of Johannesburg’s traffic calming policy.”
“We really need these traffic calming measures, added Meyer. “JRA asked us to start a petition to ask all the residents in the area whether they want these traffic calming measures. We have started this online petition.”
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Meyer urged neighbours to sign the petition.
“So far, the signatures have been coming in, but we need all the residents in the surrounds to sign the petition and get as many responses as possible so we can present it to the JRA, and they can understand the serious nature of this very dangerous section of the road. Let’s all get behind the petition.”
Ward 103 councillor Lynda Shackelford said residents are following the correct process.
“The residents are doing exactly what they should do by doing the petition. Once everyone’s got it signed and everything, we will follow the process and go to the correct departments within the city to get traffic calming there.”
She also raised concerns about the ongoing speeding within the suburban areas, specifically at night, not stopping at stop streets, and doing almost mini racing within the suburbs at night. “Over the last few months, it’s gotten a lot worse.
“So whatever we can do to slow down, cause traffic calming, and get the residents driving just to be a bit slower, I’m happy. And I would support the residents as long as all the due process happens with the petition and JRA does the correct thing, has the engineer come out and do a study of that section of the road.”
To sign the petition, click on this link here
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