Driving on what is left of Durban Road at any given time, instead of driving on the left or the right, has been the norm for way too long.
A collaborative effort by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the Somali Community Service is now reclaiming law and order on this Korsten thoroughfare, one square meter at a time.
Executive Mayor Gary van Niekerk announced the start of the work in a Council Meeting yesterday, while officials from Public Health started cleaning up pavements, the Traffic Department removed illegally parked vehicles and Roads and Transport officials painted parking and loading bays.
“Work started this morning to bring order in Durban Road. Our law enforcement requires clear markings to fine transgressors in that stretch of road.
“We started with the cleaning of a section of the parking area and will be painting parking and loading bays.
“We involved the leadership of the Somali Community Service to assist us with this process.
“They assured us that regular interactions with business owners and residents are taking place to ensure compliance.
“We have a dedicated team comprising my office, Traffic Law Enforcement, Electricity and Energy, Roads and Transport as well as Waste Management working on this project on a daily basis,” Mayor Van Niekerk said.
Work started early Thursday morning with thirty-four parallel parking bays, measuring 8.4 meters in length and 2.5 metres in width, three loading zones and two stops painted by 11am on Friday already.
Ismael Ali, Chairperson of the Somali Community Service, welcomed the work being done by the departments and said they are happy to see the difference between the Drew Street and Jackson Street intersections of Durban Road.
The humming winch of the municipal tow-truck loading a Toyota Yaris signalled the seriousness of the Traffic Department to help change the chaotic nature of Durban Road.
If the craning necks of onlookers was anything to go by, the message was received as intended.
Dedicated off-street parking, a centrally placed skip bin and the fixing of streetlights are just some of the short-term solutions for Durban Road being implemented.
While a holistic interdepartmental approach to the indiscriminate hawking, parking and bylaw enforcement is taking shape, riding on the left or right will hopefully not be an option anymore, but an enforceable rule of the road.
NMB Communications
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