Problem of road highlighted by fire

Peter Ralph writes:

The recent tragic events that we experienced in Knysna, have once again highlighted the ongoing problem of the road outside the general hospital.

Thousands of people were trying to evacuate to Loerie Park and Leisure Island on that terrible Wednesday night, only to be met with total pandemonium, chaos, panic and fear, because of the huge traffic jam outside the hospital where two lanes are reduced to one.

One shudders to think of what may have happened if the fire raged on down the slopes on either side of the hospital with all these cars which were almost stationary.

There have been numerous letters of complaint about this problem over the years, all of which have fallen on deaf ears.

We now have a population of 77 000 people in Knysna, and the traffic jam every morning, lunch time and in the afternoon from about 16:00, has become totally unacceptable.

One can only feel sorry for those making their way along the Garden Route heading towards Port Elizabeth and other towns. It must be hugely frustrating for them to be stuck in traffic starting at around the fire station.

And the Oyster festival is just around the corner. More mayhem and aggravation.

The mayor alluded to the fact that the “service roads” will need to be thoroughly investigated as a result of the fire.

One can only hope that they will begin with widening the road outside the hospital as a matter of urgency, please !!!!!

Knysna acting municipal manager, Johnny Douglas responds:

I thank the writer for once again bringing his concerns to our attention.

On that night in question, our resources were stretched to the limit as fires sprang up everywhere and we had to place officers all over town to divert vehicles in different directions.

During that night SAPS tried to do good by closing certain streets and in the process caused a lot of confusion due to the excessive traffic volumes and panic stricken drivers who were very impatient.

The road to Loerie Park as a single lane would have created a bottle neck as at some point the two lanes going up the hill from town would have to converge into that single lane.