Traffic lights spell disaster

The planned installation of R700 000 traffic lights on Church Square by the municipality has sparked controversy among the public.

According to old residents of Grahamstown, traffic lights have previously been installed in the same area, but caused so many problems that they were removed.

The planned installation of R700 000 traffic lights on Church Square by the municipality has sparked controversy among the public.

According to old residents of Grahamstown, traffic lights have previously been installed in the same area, but caused so many problems that they were removed.

Thelma Neville, who was a resident at the time, said that pedestrians didn’t wait for their turn to cross and there would be a long queue of cars that formed and this caused a lot of irritation.

"The traffic lights would stay on so long, you could make a cup of tea by the time it turned green", she said.

The main concern seems to be pedestrians. Neville pointed out that there is also a four way crossing on New Street which works efficiently as there are no pedestrian crossings.

Howard Dredge, acting municipal manager at Ndlambe Municipality who worked for Makana Municipality when the robots were placed in Church Square, described the traffic lights as the "biggest disaster under the sun".  

Safety risk
Dredge said that the traffic lights helped when the streets were busy, but one could also be waiting at night for fifteen minutes for a green light.

The main concern seemed to be pedestrians; because of the long wait motorists tended to not stop for the robots at night, which became dangerous for pedestrians who were crossing.

It was because of this that Dredge was in full support to take down the traffic lights.

Ernie Rockman, another resident living in Grahamstown at the time, said that he could switch off his engine, while waiting for the lights to turn green.

Rockman recalled how the area became known as "red square, since people were always waiting for the green light.

He said that sometimes traffic could be backed up all the way down High Street, even leaving police vans blocked in, which can be dangerous in emergencies.

However, Rockman also said he felt that if the robots worked on a better timer, they could be a success.