According to resident Rowland Tilman the traffic island that joins East Pont Road and 7th Avenue in Rivonia is a regular hot spot for severe accidents.
“Last week alone we had two huge accidents. Not people driving into each other, but people taking the corner far too quickly and ending up upside down on the island,” said Tilman.
The island was originally built in about 1992, because motorists were taking the corner too fast and smashing into Tilman’s garden wall. “This happened many times, and eventually they built the island to stop it, but it hasn’t stopped the accidents.”
Tilman said accidents occurred at the spot weekly, and the damage to the pavement was testament to this.
Ward 106 Councillor Stephen Moore, who is working with Ward 103 councillor Vincent Earp on this matter, said because 7th Avenue was a main road, erecting speed bumps was problematic.
“Ordinarily the Johannesburg Roads Agency would refuse to put speed bumps up on a main road. But the reason for traffic calming measures on this stretch of road are different to the normal requests. The Tilman’s are not concerned by traffic volumes, they are concerned by the number of accidents that occur there, so it might be a possibility,” said Moore.
Moore has requested for a roads agency traffic engineer to visit the site to establish what traffic calming measures would be most effective.
“These things take time, especially if the roads agency are going to pay for whatever calming measures are put in place. If the residents are willing to pay, it sometimes goes quicker,” said Moore.
Tilman said the sooner speed bumps could be erected, the better. “People use this road as a back road to avoid roadblocks when they have been drinking. They drive too fast, misjudge the corner and it is only a matter of time before someone is killed.”
The intersection poses further challenges in that poor road markings make it difficult to turn off of 7th Avenue and into East Pont Road. A triangular traffic island has been erected, but motorists do not know if they should turn before or after the island. This results in vehicles turning directly into oncoming traffic.
“We need for proper signage to be erected to prevent accidents from happening,” said Tilman.
