Residents of Dan Pienaar, Bloemfontein, say they are tired of drivers with a need for speed, driving recklessly down Albrecht Street. The street extends over 0.21 kilometres and is prone to accidents, of which many have resulted in death.
A resident who lives in the street, Scott Fulton, has started an online petition asking fellow residents to stand with him and request that the municipality build speed humps to force drivers to reduce their speed. Fulton says, although there had been previous attempts to have speed bumps built, it has come to no avail. A tragic accident occurred on Tuesday 18 October and resulted in the death of one person.
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Arik Ariel, a resident, voiced his opinion on Facebook shortly after the accident had happened. This sparked a discussion among residents. Scott Fulton says that after having discussed the issue with fellow residents via a WhatsApp group they had created for tips regarding the neighbourhood, he came up with the idea of getting other residents to sign a petition, as this would be the best way to get the message across to the municipality.
Democratic Alliance Ward Councillor, Professor Fief van der Merwe, who is responsible for the ward, says he is in full support of the petition and will help the community deliver it to the municipality should they need his assistance. Van der Merwe says that he and a neighbour, Andrew Maree, have been trying to get the municipality to make the street safer for a while now. But the municipality said that they could not build speed bumps as Albrecht Street is a central street. He says they are trying to meet with the head of road planning in the metro, to discuss the road safety matter further.
Scott Fulton says they will wait to see how many signatures they receive before reaching out to the municipality or ward councillor. Mangaung Metro Spokesperson, Qondile Kedama, says the community is welcome to voice their grievances to the municipality, and they will assess the situation thoroughly once they receive the petition.
Link to petition: http://www.petitions24.com/stop_reckless_speeding_on_albrecht_street –Â Seithati Semenokane
seithati@centralmediagroup.co.za
