The Greater Tzaneen Municipality will have to fork out close to half a million Rand for the construction of a new intersection on the R71 before the turn off to Spur. Though it is not entirely clear where the new intersection will be erected, or whether the current four-way traffic light intersection at Lifestyle Centre will be upgraded, a source within the municipality has confirmed that construction is set to start in August (this month).
According to our source the project was approved and discussed in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) meeting where it was also established that the GTM would have to fit a portion of the bill.
The new intersection will service the planned new fueling station and accompanying complex set to be constructed on the grounds of the former Tourist Information Centre that burnt down a few years ago (Bulletin reported live from the scene during that fire in October 2017).
Shortly after the fire had completed destroyed the building, the GTM announced plans to erect a new centre in its stead. It has been almost eight years since that statement and no sign of any construction has ever been noticed and the spokesperson for the municipality has remained comfortably silent on the matter as well.
Our source also revealed that a traffic circle is planned for the infamous Deerpark T-junction which has been a cause for immense headaches to motorists of the area for many years. This specific junction was earmarked for a traffic circle numerous times in the past which never came to fruition, and therefore the local townsfolk are not holding their breaths this time round.
Our source also alleged that the company who was awarded the rights to erect a fueling station on the old tourism information centre grounds, also revealed plans for a second fueling station opposite Hi-Q on the corner at Van Velden hospital. Â
The last two weeks the SANRAL team placed a traffic monitor at the Lifestyle intersection to measure the traffic volumes into and out of the intersection. The instrument they deployed consisted of two large black cables and a camera that would trigger the moment a vehicle passed over the cables.
It had one major flaw though. If two vehicle crossed over the cables relatively close to each other, or at relatively the same time, it would only register one vehicle.
This is a developing story and we will have more information in the weeks to come.
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