Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Upgrade for deadly N7 highway
The construction of pedestrian bridges could mean a decrease in road fatalities
“I RUSHED and I had to pick up her pieces. She was just laying there on the N7. She was on her way to work in Richwood, she never made it.”
This was the harrowing experience of SA National Civic Organisation leader Meisie Makuwa Mpukane.
She was woken early one morning and asked to investigate a report that her neighbour, a mother of two, had been knocked down.
The provincial Department of Transport and Public Works forensic pathology services said there were 11 road fatalities on the N7 last year. This year there have been four recorded fatalities. Of the 11 last year, six of were pedestrians. The youngest was an 8-year-old boy.
ANC ward 104 councillor Lubabalo Makeleni said pedestrian deaths on the N7 happen almost every week.
“It happens when they are trying to go to work in the morning so they try and cross, or when they are coming back from work in the night, although we see hit-and-run incidents more on weekends when people are intoxicated.
“I spoke to the department a few years ago to address the problem. We were given several options. One was for an overhead bridge. Instead, we got a bonus. Two bridges are being built and the upgrade of the highway which started in January, will end in 2021,” said Makeleni.
The bridges will encourage pedestrians to cross safely from Dunoon and the housing development area.
Makeleni said while the construction was taking place something drastic needed to happen to stop the deaths.
Mpukane added, while she was happy to finally see progress, she was worried because there is only an underpass and no overpass yet.
“It’s been killing us inside seeing this happen. A young boy lost his life. He was on his way to play soccer. I don’t know why this took so long. Last year, the MEC from transport came here for a workshop and he listened to us,” said Mpukane.
Siphesihle Dube, spokesperson for MEC of Transport and Public Works Donald Grant, said various projects had been undertaken in the area in partnership with the City of Cape Town to improve the situation. These included “encouraging pedestrians to make use of the subway for pedestrians which has had lights installed by the City of Cape Town”.
Dube said the Metro District Road Traffic Management Co-ordinating Committee and city and provincial engineers were looking at other measures that may be implemented to improve the situation.
“We have also had numerous engagements with the community on the matter, encouraging them to obey the rules of the road for their own safety. We believe that a long-lasting solution will depend on a behavioural change towards safe road use by those that are directly affected,” said Dube.
Dr Pascal Nteziyaremye, a recent civil engineering doctoral graduate at Stellenbosch University, investigated the link between the built environment and incidents of pedestrian injuries in Cape Town.
Nteziyaremye said pedestrian injuries happen in socio-economically disadvantaged areas because the built environment in South Africa has been shaped by past policies of racially segregated human settlements.
“This has inevitably affected the way people travel as well as the extent to which pedestrian safety was prioritised. Apart from the built environment, fewer people own cars in these poorer communities and residents rely solely on walking and public transport, which are the most unsafe transport modes in South Africa,” said Nteziyaremye.
“Poorer areas also lack adequate road infrastructure, work and economic opportunities, social services, and recreational facilities. My study found that 244 children were playing in the streets when they were hit by vehicles and the majority of these cases occurred in economically disadvantaged areas that lack safe play areas and other recreational facilities.”
A Department of Transport and Public Works report said two roadworks projects spanning 16km of the N7, one between the Bosmansdam and Potsdam interchanges and the other between the Potsdam and Melkbosstrand interchanges had started.
A Dunoon widow spoke to the Weekend Argus on condition of anonymity because she did not want her in-laws to know the details of how they lost their son.
“There is no closure. I am still traumatised. The last time we spoke was when he told me he got home safely from work and was watching the Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates game. He said he was waiting for me to come home.
“I know the driver was found, she never reached out. I don’t mind it because meeting her can never bring my husband back.”
“I don’t like the N7, we avoid it. We are afraid if we cross there we will never come back,” she added.
The woman said before they had buried her husband a week later, two other people were knocked down and died.