Drivers assured pointsmen, lights, scientific processes control traffic

Mayoral committee member for Safety, Security and Social Services JP Smith Photo: Tracey Adams/African News Agency/ANA

Mayoral committee member for Safety, Security and Social Services JP Smith Photo: Tracey Adams/African News Agency/ANA

Published May 24, 2018

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The City of Cape Town acknowledges the sentiments of Mr Kirsch, but we have to respectfully disagree with

him.

The intersection at the foot of the elevated freeway at the entrance to the Waterfront is manned by no less than four pointsmen who are dedicated to keeping the intersection clear of congestion so that counter-flowing traffic can move through unencumbered.

The traffic lights regulate the flow of traffic and the timing cycles have been set to their maximum by our traffic engineers in the Transport and Development Authority.

This is a scientific process based on traffic patterns and volumes, and any manual interference worsens the situation as the officer cannot have an omniscient view of how their actions will impact on other intersections.

In addition to this, there are dedicated pointsmen situated at various other intersections within the city.

Dedicated staff members are also placed along strategic stretches of road to facilitate the entrance and egressing of traffic from the city centre, such as the visible static patrols on Nelson Mandela Boulevard during peak hours.

The Traffic Service has identified problematic intersections where the additional pointsmen are deployed to ensure that those intersections are

kept free. These are all proactive interventions.

As Mr Kirsch has rightfully indicated, our roads are extremely

congested.

However, we have previously demonstrated on Otto du Plessis Road that no actions undertaken by traffic officers can resolve the congestion caused by physical constraints of the road infrastructure - simple laws of physics dictate that only so many objects can move through a defined road width and intersection at a time.

I would like to invite Mr Kirsch to take the opportunity to ride along with one of our staff members in order to see what traffic officers do and to understand how proactive and committed we are as the City towards ensuring that all citizens reach their destinations safely. This will also afford him an opportunity to understand the constraints implicit in what they do.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge that we have for some time now been struggling with very low numbers of traffic officers.

This is about to change as the City’s draft budget has just been adjusted based on the public input received to make provision for a significant expansion of traffic officers and other policing staff over the next three years. This, combined with new provincial traffic legislation, will offer some relief to frustrated commuters.

Alderman JP Smith

Mayoral Committee Member for

Safety, Security and Social Services

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