Residents fear traffic nightmare
Kay also suggested that the planning of the school be reconsidered.
A traffic nightmare is being predicted by residents travelling through the intersection of Paul Kruger and John Vorster Roads, in Radiokop, where land has been earmarked for a public school.
One of the concerned residents, Kay Kilpatrick, believes that building the school would create even more traffic congestion than there already is on those roads.“The roads are already under great pressure trying to cope with the continually increasing traffic coming from all the new complexes being built in the area.
Building a school (too small to cope with the demand) will be motoring suicide, even outside of normal busy traffic times. With the increased use of the adjacent sports grounds, and no space for cars to pass others that are turning in to the grounds, congestion builds up badly,” Kay said.
Kay suggested that the planning for the school be reconsidered. “We understand the need for a public primary school in Ward 97, but please find a bigger and more suitable site for it,” she appealed. The MMC for Economic Development and Ward 97 councillor, Leah Knott, provided some clarity on the road management plan. “When the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) makes a township application and then submits building plans as well as a traffic impact assessment, the Johannesburg Roads Agency will issue a directive on road requirements such as widenings or traffic lights etc… This is not done prior to these submissions,” she explained.
Knott previously accused the GDE of wasteful expenditure on the project. She said, “That is why I am pushing on GDE’s failure to submit the necessary application to council. So far, nothing has been submitted and thus construction was halted.
When the GDE initially started [working on the project] in 2014, they did so without municipal approval and were thus stopped from carrying on with anything,” she added.The public school is intended to cater for learners in Radiokop, Wilgeheuwel and surrounding areas.
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