Pupils unable to use pavements
PANORAMA – Smart street concept needs to be rolled out in suburbs across Joburg ways ward 89 councillor.
Safety of pedestrians and school children is something that Ward 89 councillor Ingrid Reinten is very serious about. She said, “Panorama Primary School is one of my biggest worries – especially Theunis Street as pupils use pavements next to the road to walk to the school’s main gate.”
Reinten added that the pupils are unable to use the pavement “because it is overgrown with grass and they are thus forced to walk in the road.”
She explains that she has asked the City to clean up the pavements and she added that it was one of the things on her Integrated Development Plan (IDP) that still needs to be address by the City.
“The smart street concept has been launched in Johannesburg where pedestrians are kept off the road and on the pavements and I think suburbs in Johannesburg need the same concept.”
“My proposal is to make the pavements on Theunis Street wider and to create a parking lot with paving for the taxis so that they can stay off Albert Street where they block traffic and cause congestion as they drop children off at the school.”
She added that pavements in Cornelius Street also need attention as one of the pavements around a bend in the road is unusable because a big tree’s branches are growing so low that it forces pedestrians to walk next to it in the road. “This issue has been logged to City Parks and they need to address it to make the roads a bit safer.”
“I will continue raising the pavement issue with council until something is done to make pavements around the school more usable,” concluded Reinten.
