Roundabouts almost complete
WHILE recent protests resulted in a few unforeseen delays, the roundabouts at the infamous “killer crossings” along the R31 outside Kimberley are set to be fully operational by the end of the month.
This is according to the South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral) spokesperson, Melany Kuhn, who confirmed on Friday that the finishing touches to the multimillion-rand construction project were nearly in place.
Over the course of a year, the upgrades to the three, high-order, at-grade intersections, where the N8, N12 and R357 respectively cross the R31, have been transformed from two-way, stop-controlled, intersections to 50m diameter, twolane roundabouts.
Street lights have also been installed at each of these traffic circles and their approaches to improve visibility.
“Significant progress has been made in the construction of the three roundabouts on the R31 outside Kimberley,” Kuhn said on Friday. “Some delay has been incurred as a result of recent, unrelated protest action but work is back on track and the project is expected to be completed by the end of September 2018.”
These upgrades came as a result of the alarming number of fatal accidents along the route, resulting in a massive public outcry and demands for additional measures to ensure public safety.
During a meeting with stakeholders in 2016, Sanral’s manger for the western region (Northern and Western Cape), Kobus van der Walt, explained that Sanral had explored various options to reduce the number of fatalities at the notorious crossroads and had determined that traffic circles and the installation of adequate street lighting all the way along the R31 was likely to render the best results, pointing out that accidents occurred most frequently at dawn and dusk when visibility is poor.
He also explained that an intersection has 24 pedestrian and 32 vehicle conflict points while a traffic circle has only eight pedestrian and eight vehicle conflict points, hence making it the safest option.
Sanral has been mandated to do the upgrades of the intersections at the N12 and N8, as national roads, while the crossing of the N12 and R31 falls under the jurisdiction of the Northern Cape Department of Roads and Public Works (NCDRPW). However, despite several requests for comment and an update on progress, over the course of last week, the NCDRPW failed to respond.