After almost 30 accidents on Katdoring and 6th Avenue in Eastridge, a traffic circle is under construction.
According to the City of Cape Town, between 2009 and 2013 their were 29 crashes, four of which were serious incidents involving pedestrians and eight were slight injuries.
Martha Petersen from Eastridge said residents living on the corners of these streets had been worst affected.
“It is scary living in this area because you never know who might drive into your home and yard. I have been emailing since I moved in. I requested that they put in speed humps, traffic lights or a traffic circle. There is a four-way stop but rules of the road are not adhered to,” she said.
In her emails to the Mayor’s office on April 7 2014, Ms Petersen refers to an accident in 2013 when a Grade 12 pupil almost had his leg severed.
Ms Petersen continued to email the department several times after that. “I got feedback, but nothing was implemented, up until now,” she said.
Nicolette Cupido, who lives on Katdoring Road, said a car skidded into her yard and right up to her door. “The people speed like hell in this road, the cars, bakkies and even the taxis. They don’t care, just drive and have no regard for residents.
“It is high time the City takes action. People have families and children living in their homes who are exposed to this trauma,” she said.
Sakeena Cupido, who also lives on Katdoring, opposite Ms Cupido, said she has seen how people suffer during accidents.
“I even had to build up my wall because cars kept coming into the property. How can you live like this? We have raised the issue about the road for years, finally something is being done, because I feel like we are the forgotten people in Eastridge,” she said.
Eastridge community worker April Engelbrecht said the traffic circle was long overdue, but supported the implementation.
The Plainsman has seen an email sent to the City of Cape Town in 2002, in which Mr Engelbrecht requests traffic calming measures in the streets along Katdoring.
“Why did it have to take this long for something to be done? I too emailed about the traffic calming measures because residents kept complaining about the accidents on this road.
“This is not political. This is about service delivery, I have been working in this community for many years, and feel that the needs of the community regarding safety need to be addressed,” he said.
Eddie Andrews, mayoral committee member for area south, said the request came through the Mayor’s office in April 2014.
It was investigated and approved in the same year.
“Funds were not immediately available to construct the traffic circle and therefore it was placed on the priority list for implementation as soon as budget permitted,” he said.
He said the procedure that residents had to follow for traffic calming measures in their area was to submit traffic calming requests to the Transport Information Centre or to the relevant ward councillor or sub-council.
Ward councillor Solomon Philander said the traffic circle was reported at the April Sub-council 12 meeting.
Mr Philander said he raised it at the ward committee meeting in May. “Traffic calming measures is the responsibility of the municipality. As ward councillors we are responsible for public meetings, where we listen to the community and then action what the needs are.
“Beatie Roberts, a community worker in Eastridge was very proactive to gather a group of residents and in that meeting, 6th Avenue was raised as a priority,” he said.
Mr Philander said after the meeting the City assessed the road where they installed a pedestrian crossing on 6th Avenue and during the same traffic calming assessment the officials recommended a circle.
He said the funding was only available during the 2016/17 financial year.
“Another community worker ,Monica Jacobs, who lives in the 6thAvenue, her child was a victim of an accident has also raised the priority to implement traffic calming measures.
“A pamphlet has been going out to thank the community for informing the councillor to make progress possible together,” he said.
Speaking about Ms Petersen’s correspondence about her requests, he said he was only elected as a councillor in 2011 and did not know about it.
Mr Philander said traffic calming plans for Ward 79 included the mayoral traffic calming plan which prioritised the school areas.
“In addition to this, you will see Imperial road, Alpine Road and Trampoline roads received raised intersections,” he said.
Mr Philander said many roads in Ward 79 had been resurfaced in Beacon Valley and Eastridge.
He added that all the streets in Ward 79 will be remarked as part of the plan.
Eastridge Heights received the first road plan where stop streets and painting of street will be implemented.
