Cape Town - Impatient drivers dodging heavy traffic on Nelson Mandela Boulevard by cutting into the left lane across the painted islands have been stopped in their tracks by flexible yellow bollards.
Transport for Cape Town, the city’s transport authority, has installed the bollards along the edge of the island at the Roodebloem Road exit to prevent drivers from jumping the queue.
Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said jumbo road studs had also been installed on the no-crossing line in front of the island “to make it uncomfortable” for drivers to cross.
It is illegal to cross the line next to a painted island on a freeway.
Herron said the pilot project, installed a week ago at a cost of about R50 000, had proved to be such a success the city would erect similar deterrents on other painted islands along the outbound carriageway of Nelson Mandela Boulevard.
“We will engage with safety and security about where they have encountered similar problems with drivers using the left lane as an escape route to get ahead in the traffic.”
The bollards would help the flow of traffic on Hospital Bend, he said, and ease bottlenecks during peak periods.
Cape Times