Road Works

by Jo · 2010/09/10

This post online will serve to document several promises made (one already broken) by the Road Works department in Johannesburg.

As I have already documented a lot of the problems facing Orange Grove as a suburb in the previous post (http://blog.jorodrigues.com/2010/09/open-letter-to-hellen-ziller-of.html) there is no purpose in repeating myself ad nauseam.

In brief, I live on a very bad corner of Orange Grove as far as traffic accidents are concerned. After 4 or 5 years my wall is shortly about to be rebuilt a third time! In the last year it has gotten markedly worse. The accident rate is now very alarming and the last collision resulted in several children being carted off in ambulances in neck braces.

Over the years I have tried to get in touch with anyone who might be able to help with the challenge of reducing people’s speeds down to the legal limit and stop people from jumping the stop signs.

It is a sad fact that almost any number you attempt to call in the government section of the telephone book is either out of order, unanswered, or upon being transferred, the line is dropped.

Recently, however, I managed to actually get through to a Road Works department which gave me reference numbers and promises that action would be taken. I was quite surprised at the dates I was given for completion of the tasks that I will detail below.

The first task was to replace the guard rails on the corner and the second was to lay down some speed humps. The original dates I was given were changed upon secondary telephonic calls to a lady in the claims department.

The date for the guard rails has already elapsed and has not been attended to. One holds out hope for the speed humps. Below, in point form, follows the details.

Speed Humps:

Reference Number: 308 404

Original date of completion: 2010-09-21

Amended date of completion: 2010-10-21

Result: Not fulfilled but still within deadline as of the date of posting!

Guard Rails:

Reference Number: 308 405

Original date of completion: 2010-09-08

Amended date of completion: 2010-09-09

Result: Not fulfilled as of the date of posting!

So now begins the follow up! Oh and on a last note to those that drive through Orange Grove… can you stop driving at neck breaking speeds please? With a children’s nursery school mere meters away from this deadly intersection are you really willing to take the chance of killing children?

Edited to add photographs as I suspect people are not taking this seriously.

It started in 2006…

Notice the remenents of the guard rails that have never been put back in many years. It can take many months before even the stop sign is put back.

2008

This driver below was traveling at such a high velocity evident at how from the corner where the accidents happen she is that she spun around and hit this electrical pole and cracked the wall behind the ivy.