Following a series of complaints about road safety at the De Grendel Avenue traffic circle, motor vehicle accidents which in some cases have claimed lives and minor fender benders, steps are finally going to be taken to address safety here.
Over the years the traffic circle has been the scene where people have lost their lives in horrific accidents, and cars have been written off or damaged in fender benders. In March last year a female motorcyclist lost her life at the circle when she allegedly knocked a pedestrian, lost control of her motorcycle and was flung off, the last recorded death.
Local residents, including the Bothasig Residents Assocation (BRA), have asked for safety measures to be implemented as a result of these accidents and over time giant yellow plastic barriers had been installed to improve visibility at the site. Rob Quintas, Mayco member for urban mobility, said last year after the installation, that the City of Cape Town has identified headlight glare from oncoming traffic as a major contributing factor to motorists not seeing De Grendel circle and that they therefore installed the barriers with the aim to firstly improve the visibility of the circle, and secondly to screen the headlights of oncoming traffic.
However, in January this year BRA chair Mario Borchards indicated that this is not sufficient. Last week ward councillor Miquette Temlett gave an update on the situation at the traffic circle, and shared some of the steps that will be taken soon to address safety concerns.
These steps include the installation of new signage by the end of June this year, something that was delayed while additional funding was secured, which has now been finalised. Temlett also indicated that the current barriers will remain in place for now. The installation of rubble strips, however, is not being considered at this time as these are not suitable for use near residential areas due to continuous noise disturbances, said Temlett.
