Outrage over Cape’s peak-hour traffic jams

Cars 'block the box' at the intersection of Buitengracht and Strand streets during the afternoon rush hour. Picture: Michael Walker / INLSA

Cars 'block the box' at the intersection of Buitengracht and Strand streets during the afternoon rush hour. Picture: Michael Walker / INLSA

Published Aug 29, 2016

Share

Cape Town - Whether you call it blocking the box or jamming the intersection, few things irritate Capetonians as much as cars entering intersections at rush hour without space to exit.

When the traffic lights turn red, these cars in turn block cross traffic, jamming up the roads and leaving drivers seething.

As the afternoon rush hour got into gear on Friday around 4pm in the Cape Town city centre, intersections on Buitengracht started to clog up as commuters headed out of town towards Nelson Mandela Boulevard.

The congestion started on the corner of Strand and and Buitengracht streets, with some cars inching into the junction without enough space for them to make it across.

Cars attempting to turning right from Buitengracht into Strand Street towards Sea Point, in turn, had to weave their way through -or even between - cars blocking their way.

Blocking an intersection is illegal, said mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith.

“A motorist is not allowed to enter an intersection unless they can move all the way through it.”

Smith said the city had run a publicity campaign earlier this year to curb the practice, and had fined offenders.

“It achieved short-term compliance but motorists quickly began blocking the intersections again.”

Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron called blocking intersections “grossly inconsiderate”.

It hindered public transport, including MyCiTi buses. Cars even blocked designated bus lanes.

“A single car with one occupant can delay a bus with 50 or more passengers, and disrupt the service’s time schedule,” he said.

Not all cars at the Buitengracht and Strand intersection blocked the box. Many stopped at the intersection to wait for “sufficient distance to allow the driver to cross the road”, as the National Road Traffic Act stipulates.

As traffic volumes at the intersection increased after 4pm, Outsurance pointsmen Phikolomzi Magona and Shaud Isaacs arrived to take charge. The flow improved as the pair directed cars, keeping Strand Street clear for motorists, but even with their help traffic did not improve beyond a slow crawl.

‘Is this normal?’

As the traffic lights turned red, a driver with an Eastern Cape number plate wound down her window and asked: “Is this normal traffic? What’s happening?”

“Ja, this is normal,” replied Magona with a grin.

Traffic wardens help direct cars at many of the city’s main intersections, but they cannot be everywhere.

At the corner of Bree and Strand streets, a car heading down Bree Street into town and wanting to turn right into Strand ended up waiting through three light changes until the road cleared.

Automobile Association spokesman Leyton Beard said jamming intersections not only caused drivers’ temperatures to soar, but made traffic flow worse for everybody.

Noting that an in-depth study of Cape Town’s traffic was needed to find the cause of morning and afternoon gridlock, more traffic wardens and turning intersections into roundabouts could help. He added that better synchronisation of traffic lights should also assist.

“But driver attitude is critical, and in South Africa it is poor, Beard said. “You need to remember everybody has the right to be on the road. Remain calm and understand it is not only affecting you.”

Asked if the city would launch another campaign against blocking the box, city spokeswoman Priya Reddy said in the current financial year it would “embark on a campaign that looks at congestion mitigation in the city”, including jamming of intersections.

Weekend Argus

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Subscribe to our

Related Topics: