Roodepoort Residents Call For Urgent Action On Hazardous Albert Street Bend

Residents of homes situated on a sharp bend on Albert Street in Weltevreden Park, Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, are advocating for the installation of speed humps to prevent motorists from crashing into their boundary walls.

Jennifer van der Westhuizen, whose property is located on the street, has experienced multiple incidents of vehicles crashing into her wall and her neighbours’ walls since she moved into the area more than four years ago.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Watch| Major Traffic Disruption On KZN South Coast Following N2 Bridge Collapse

She described this section of the road, where the speed limit is 40 km/h, as a “notorious bend” known for numerous accidents.

In the most recent incident, a vehicle hit her boundary wall last Sunday while her children were playing outside in the yard with their dog by the pool. “Someone drove straight through our wall, with the debris of the wall nearly hitting them [children].

Three weeks before, we had a drunk driver not even brake around the corner and wrap himself around the tree on our pavement, which caused damage to our wall,” Van der Westhuizen said.

History of Accidents

Van der Westhuizen recalled that the first accident occurred shortly after they moved into their new home in 2020, followed by two more incidents. This year alone, there have been four accidents, with two occurring last month that were particularly alarming.

In one recent accident, a motorist bumped into her wall while her children were playing outside in the yard. She noted that if it were not for a palm tree, the driver might have either killed them or crashed into her lounge.

“The accident before that, we had a drunk driver coming down the road that barely missed our wall but hit the tree on our pavement, which damaged our wall.”

Van der Westhuizen is now attempting to find a company to install large boulders on her pavement to prevent motorists from hitting the wall.

“Our children are not allowed to play outside, which is terrible for them because that is the biggest space we have in the yard. They can’t swim because they are petrified of somebody coming through our wall. Especially now with the recent accident, my children are petrified to even go to bed because our bedrooms face that wall,” she said.

Residents have engaged with the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) to install speed humps but have only seen a barrier installed around the corner.

The agency refused to install speed humps, explaining that the accidents were due to driver behaviour and negligence rather than the road itself. Van der Westhuizen argued that drivers’ negligence should have given the JRA more reason to install speed humps.

Resident’s Perspective

Sylvia Philips, a neighbour across the road, noted that at one point, the street lights were not working, making the bend “just a dark corner.”

Most of the accidents occurred between 11 PM and 2 AM. “It is when you are sleeping that you suddenly hear somebody crashing. One guy hit the wall of my neighbour and ended up on my driveway. The wheels were off. The last one, the whole engine had dropped down on the ground. It is a very dangerous corner,” Philips said.

Since then, Philips has adopted a cautious approach when returning home, driving past her driveway before turning around and driving onto her property. “I can’t even think of coming from the direction where the accidents happened. I am too scared that the car will come to me when I am driving to my property.”

Philips mentioned that while the JRA’s barriers had helped, they were not sufficient. “The JRA’s barriers had helped ‘but not that much’.”

JRA’s Measures

JRA’s acting head of mobility and freight, Sipho Nhlapo, stated that their traffic engineers had assessed the road and determined that the gradient and sight distance were not conducive to the installation of speed humps.

However, other safety measures were put in place. “We have extended the guardrails by 5 meters to protect the resident’s wall and the houses. We have installed road studs on the bend. We have reinstalled the 60 km/h and 40 km/h signs because there is a school,” he said.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Fatal Head-On Collision In Pietermaritzburg Leaves Two Dead And 17 Injured

Additionally, the JRA installed sharp bend warning signs, painted yellow lines on both sides of the road, and painted speed humps further up near the school with “slow” written on the road. Nhlapo mentioned that the JRA visited the site with residents, including residents association members, who were satisfied with their interventions.

In a related story, residents of Blairgowrie in Johannesburg recently faced a similar issue on Conrad Drive, where multiple accidents occurred due to speeding vehicles. After several appeals to the Johannesburg Roads Agency, the community successfully lobbied for the installation of speed humps and improved signage. These measures have significantly reduced the number of accidents in the area, providing a safer environment for residents.

---

For SA Latest News Follow SurgeZirc SA on Facebook,  X and Instagram