John Ross crossing strikes again
Motorists have dubbed the crossing 'an accident waiting for a place to happen’
THE ongoing complaints by motorists about the dangerous T-junction at the John Ross Eco Junction was brought to the fore once again by a nasty accident on Friday afternoon.
A polo was struck by an approaching vehicle as it crossed over the two lanes of oncoming traffic to turn right onto the John Ross Parkway towards Empangeni.
The impact caused the Polo to roll over onto its side, but no injuries were sustained in the incident.
Following the many complaints, Deputy Chairman of the Zululand Division of the SA Roads Federation, Mike Patterson, earlier this year explained that the City of uMhlathuze was well aware of the problem, but could not directly intervene as the intersection fell under the jurisdiction of the provincial roads department.
‘The equipment and traffic lights have been bought but are still in storage. At this stage the process is being delayed by an engineer from the provincial department who simply refuses to budge,’ Patterson said.
According to him the engineer has yet to approve the installation of the traffic lights as planned, and will only consider doing so once a traffic study is conducted at the intersection.
‘It’s not about the number of vehicles crossing that’s causing the danger. What makes the traffic lights essential is the fact that vehicles are crossing a highway from two directions over five lanes of high speed traffic,’ Patterson said.
