How Cape Town is planning to reduce accidents on one of its deadliest roads

Following a horrific truck crash on Kloof Nek Road in Cape Town that left six people in the hospital, damaged six cars, and wiped out a MyCiTi bus stop, the City has planned three new initiatives that it hopes will bring down the number of accidents on the route.

These comprise more speed signage, a new traffic signal, and the re-commissioning of an out-of-order speed camera.

Kloof Nek Road sits between Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, connecting the Cape Town CBD to areas such as Clifton and Camp’s Bay, and has been the scene of numerous accidents and fatalities dating back decades.

Standard interventions won’t work

Despite being aware that it is one of the deadliest roads in the city with speeding being a major issue, Cape Town authorities have yet to find a way to mitigate much of the danger on Kloof Nek Road.

Given that it is an arterial route that is intended to cut down traveling time between two major destinations, the city can’t implement standard traffic calming measures such as speed bumps to reduce accidents and must think of other ways that could potentially yield positive results, according to Francine Higham, ward councillor of the particular area around Kloof Nek.

The steep incline at which it lies further complicates the matter.

Therefore, the City has decided on three initiatives with which it hopes to crack down on speeding and subsequently accidents on Kloof Nek Road, including re-commissioning a broken speed camera, putting up more signage, as well as installing an additional traffic signal at the top.

“There’s a speed camera at the top of the road which has not been active for some time, I think most people thought that it was, but we’re going to get that back up and running again very shortly,” said Higham in an interview on Cape Talk.

“The speed limit on this road is actually 50km/h so we’re [also] going to put more signage along that stretch of road to remind drivers, especially if they’re coming up over from the Atlantic seaboard side, that they need to slow down; and then lastly we’re also going to be installing, hopefully by the end of the year, an additional traffic signal at the top side at the intersection at Tafelberg Road which will slow down drivers as they’re coming over that crest from the Camp’s Bay side.”

The City is also imploring transport companies and drivers to assess taking alternative routes if they know their vehicles may not be able to handle Kloof Nek Road, as several of these also exist.

Headline image: News24