Road now an obstacle course
ON Thursday at approximately 9pm, the peace and quiet on Circular Drive opposite the Stanfords’ home was shattered by what sounded like a bomb going off. On investigation, they went out into the dark of night (the street lights have not worked in months) to discover that a vehicle had struck the recently constructed “minefield” of a circle that juts 20cm above the road surface.
The carnage fortunately was only to the vehicle and not its occupants, a young man and his three younger sisters. The darkness due to unkept street lights and the lack of illuminating markers of the jutting concrete landmine caught the driver by surprise.
The engine was split, ripping the sump off and causing a major oil spill. Engine parts were scattered over 20m.
I visited the site and discovered a few alarming matters. The road signage is poorly placed and poles are on people’s verges where they can’t turn or park safely.
The jutting concrete “landmine” at this mini circle is of no use to man nor beast and only serves to destroy a vehicle’s lower engine case or body frame once struck. The oil spill was not cleaned up.
The roadside temporary markers made no logical sense and left the centre circle exposed to a direct hit. The construction foreman, if he was in China, would be shot by a firing squad. Sigh.
I assisted another concerned citizen, Paul Wepener, who has civil engineering experience, in using some of the temporary markers to make an attempt to save the next unsuspecting victim from the same nighttime disaster by highlighting the above-surface landmine. I then later called the fire department to clean up the oil and they arrived within the hour.
We have done what is humanly possible to reduce risk of injury or death to other road users. I can’t say the same for the people in charge of the design for construction of this new beast.
Watching the behaviour of local drivers during that day simply amazed me. People instinctively stayed in the centre of the road when the old centre was a turn-right-only lane now, all ignoring the painted road signs when driving west.
Besides the new circle the minefield has two raised pedestrian crossings on each side, which for years now I have tried to get the local authorities to set a standard on, but they refuse any constructive advice. Some 90% of speed humps or pedestrian crossings are not constructed by any uniform standard that is small-vehicle or short wheelbase-friendly.
Why invest in millions for a smooth road and then turn it into an obstacle course, seriously counter-productive? A general notice to the public is: please take care in Circular Drive before you suffer at your own peril.
Régo Burger, concerned citizen, Port Elizabeth