Ms S Smith, Plumstead
The traffic department must prioritise traffic-calming measures in various areas.
It is horrendous the way certain road users have no regard for general traffic ordinances or respect for other citizens. This is prevalent in high peak times, especially Dick Burton and Basil roads in Plumstead, which offer easy access to the Main Road.
These vehicles speed, rev their engines, are reckless, do not caution or even at times slow down to stop at stop streets.
There are not even cautionary road signs in place. Not that they will notice them.
They disrespect citizens living in the area. We are getting too scared to make use of the tranquil public facilities. We have many elderly persons, people walking their dogs, children, animals and people enjoying a walk.
Do these inconsiderate, reckless and disrespectful persons truly warrant their licences as they have no consideration for others?
Ward 73 councillor Carol Bew responds: most of Dick Burton and Basil roads are in Ward 63 and both already have some means of traffic calming in the form of circles (Dick Burton/Churchill), raised intersections (Dick Burton/ Milford) as well as speed bumps at the Basil Road Park.
Mayoral committee member for transport, Felicity Purchase, responds: The City’s traffic calming policy aims to protect the most vulnerable road users, where they occur in the largest numbers on a Class 4 Collector Street and/or Class 5 Local Street in a residential area near public facilities, with roads adjacent to and leading to schools being the primary focus of attention.
Speeding and poor driver behaviour are universal issues throughout the metro. Traffic calming measures alone, cannot be used as a solution to curb speeding.
Dick Burton Road has four strategically located all-way stop controls to regulate flow and management. There is a mini-circle at the Churchill Road intersection, adjacent to Plumstead High School, to aid traffic management and encourage motorists to slow down, and a raised intersection at the Milford Road intersection adjacent to the John Graham School property. The schools both front onto the side roads, namely Milford Road and Churchill Road, which have already been addressed with traffic calming measures.
Dick Burton Road has a width of six metres and the verges have generous width of 3m to 6m with space for cyclists and pedestrians.
Basil Road is a Class 5 residential road and there are two speed humps adjacent to Plumstead High School between Totness Road and Churchill Road, a speed hump between Evermond and Milford roads and two speed humps adjacent to the play park between Lympleigh and Pluto roads. There are four all-way stop controls, with the longest unrestricted length of road being only 200m. There is no justification for further traffic calming measures along Basil Road.
Poor Driver behaviour and vehicle noise does not imply that this is a speed related activity and traffic calming measures, such as speed humps or any other engineering measures will not remedy this behaviour.
It is a commonly accepted principle that traffic management consists of the so-called “3 E’s”, namely engineering, enforcement and education. The engineering components of both Basil and Dick Burton roads have been addressed and can be followed up with enforcement and education of motorists. We will ask traffic services to conduct further enforcement and report back.