The city of Johannesburg has given boom gates in the city’s suburban areas a nod, SABC news said on Saturday.
The Johannesburg news agency reported that more than eighty boom gates in and around the city have been approved and will be advertised in the government gazette by the end of this month.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency received over 300 boom gate applications, after it gave residents a three month deadline to legalise their road closures in 2003.
The city council then said boom gates had a negative impact on traffic and road networks, and also violated people’s rights to freedom of movement.
Residents said they put up boomed gates in an effort to curb high levels of crime in their residential areas.
According to the Joburg City website, the approval is valid for two years from the date on which the notice is advertised in the gazette and the media.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) received exactly 321 applications for boom gates, of which 298 were recommended for approval and submitted to the City of Johannesburg for consideration, according to the agency’s road safety engineer, Hendrik van Tonder.
Of these, the City approved 87 applications; 66 were turned down because they did not comply with the Security Access Restriction Policy. The policy allows restriction of access only in certain, specific circumstances.
The policy was put in place after the formation of Johannesburg as a unicity, made up of the former local government authorities. With different policies regarding road closures and various legal problems arising from such variants, the City set up a single policy in 2002.
Eight applications were referred back to the JRA for a traffic impact study and for public comment to ensure that the boom gates will not affect the road network negatively.
The South African Police Service is still investigating the crime rates in the areas where 129 of the applications were made.
A further eight applications are waiting for a final decision from the City, with an assessment of the crime rates in the neighbourhoods already undertaken by the police.
Still being processed are 19 applications that were received after the deadline of 18 July 2003.
Application forms can be acquired from the Johannesburg Roads Agency website, under the section policy and application procedures. – Sapa, Johannesburg News Agency