by Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba announced his plan to tackle Johannesburg traffic yesterday. In particular the city’s traffic light challenges.
Through the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA), the city said it will work to combat the challenge of traffic signal downtime. Especially at key Johannesburg traffic intersections.
“Traffic light outages are among the top frustrations for Joburg residents and visitors to our city. Up until now, we addressed issues of downed traffic lights by simply joining cables in the event of an electrical fault,” said Mashaba.
R6 Million Allocated To Ease Johannesburg Traffic
The city’s recent budget adjustment has allocated R6 million to replace cabling at traffic intersections as part of the city’s ‘no-join policy’.
“Each join in the cabling of a traffic light is an electrical weakness in the circuit. It makes it vulnerable to rain, electrical surges and lightening. The no-join policy launched today serves to reduce the high number of electrical faults over time for the most critical high volume intersections in the city,” the mayor said.
‘No-Join Policy’
JRA technicians will start at key intersections. No longer will they simply join old cables when an electrical fault is reported at a downed traffic light. A replacement cable will be utilised instead.
The City said its ultimate goal is to roll out this no-join policy on a city-wide scale beginning in its 2017/2018 financial year.
“We will make Joburg’s traffic network more resilient to the impact of wet weather conditions. Lightning and electrical surges which contribute to signal downtime,” Mashaba said.
Other Challenges Facing Johannesburg Traffic
“There are a number of other challenges which need to be addressed to improve traffic signal performance in the city,” Mashaba said.
Other challenges faced by the traffic network can vary from highly complex electrical technical issues to poor quality maintenance. Theft of cables and accidents at intersections which knock poles over, and damage the cables are also a problem.
Herman Mashaba’s Plan To Eradicate Johannesburg Traffic
- The implementation of a “no-join” cable policy at key intersections. It will reduce the risk of technical faults resulting from water getting into joints.
- Forging closer working relationships with power supply utilities like City Power and Eskom. This will ensure that power is restored quickly when it goes off at traffic signals.
- Enhancing the use of a Smart Traffic System, including remote monitoring of the traffic signals. This will ensure that faults are detected and repaired quickly by the JRA.
- Establish a 24/7 Traffic Operations Centre. Traffic lights can be monitored so that technicians can be dispatched to carry out repairs.
- Increased traffic light security systems in the fight against vandalism and theft.
- Supplying mobile generators to temporarily power to intersections affected by power supply outages. This will alleviate interruptions to traffic signal which contributes 28% of daily traffic signal outages.
Read More about how long you spend in traffic a year below
Mashaba assured that all technological improvements will not result in any job losses. “In fact, they are becoming more labour intensive.”
“To date, weakness in the city transport network and infrastructure is one of the city’s top challenges. It is strangling our potential for economic growth. Under my administration, this will become a thing of the past.”
