Frustration is mounting over a set of “faulty” traffic lights at a busy intersection in Somerset West.
Motorists claim the lights are “not set correctly”, which apparently results in waiting times of up to 30 minutes during peak morning rush-hour traffic on the corner of Bizweni Avenue and Main Road.
To make matters worse, motorists allege traffic officers lay in wait for the slightest transgression, issuing fines to those who attempt to make the most of the green light and convert the single carriageway into a dual lane by using the cycle lane.
“People have to work and drop children at school . . . It’s infuriating that this issue has not been attended to by the City of Cape Town for longer than a year,” declared resident Robin Gaffley. “Is it because they are collecting all that money from traffic fines?”
He believes the issue is ignored instead of being addressed, giving rise to soft targeting and easy-money preying.
“The problem has been ongoing for years. It was previously efficiently sorted out, but it has now returned and is ongoing, ridiculous and a pure dereliction of service.”
Gaffley pointed out that the problem started before the Covid-19 lockdown and became an everyday saga, with traffic backed-up from the Bizweni traffic lights to the four-way stop at Schapenberg Estate (about 1 km) on some days traffic. This also causes backed-up traffic on Sir Lowry’s Pass Road.
He added that the traffic lights at the Caledon Street and Main Road intersection should also be checked as it is not set correctly, further exacerbating traffic problems.
“These ridiculous non-working traffic lights are such a norm, that some drivers have started to ‘create’ a left lane, by keeping as close to the right as possible, allowing cars to move along the left, so the traffic can move,” Gaffley explained.
“Lo and behold, the traffic officers get wind of this, especially now in November (bonus time), arriving in the morning, holding up already backed-up traffic to pull cars over to issue fines!
“To me, this is one huge devious tactic, a gigantic ruse, where officers hide behind the bend to catch ‘errant’ motorists. Has the world gone mad?”
The frustrated resident also noted drivers are forced to idle their cars for extended periods, affecting fuel consumption, an extra headache over and above being late for work or appointments.
“Although I have not been fined, I request all these fines against road users be withdrawn; fix the problem first before punishing. This bad service delivery is causing stress and frustration on our roads every day.”
Kevin Jacobs, spokesperson for the City’s Traffic Service dismissed allegations that traffic officers are acting deviously.
“Traffic Services has received complaints about driver behaviour in this area,” said Jacobs, justifying the traffic officers’ presence.
“Officers are duty-bound to respond to complaints received and do so across the metropole daily.”
He further assured the public that Traffic Services’ operations are driven by public safety – not income.
“During the operation at the location on Thursday 24 November, officers issued 23 fines, including 10 for overtaking illegally, five vehicles were overloaded, five fines were issued for failure to wear safety belts, there were two unlicensed drivers and one did not have a public driving permit,” Jacobs explained.
Rob Quintas, Mayoral Committee member for Urban Mobility, undertook to investigate and attend to the problem.
“The Urban Mobility Directorate’s transport network management team aims to resolve traffic-signal timing complaints within 42 days,” Quintas said.
