Bayhead construction draws flood of complaints

A flood of calls have poured into the
Aurecon Group – the civil engineers in
charge of the road widening in Bayhead
Road, the sole access to the Port of Durban
container terminals – complaining about
the traffic congestion, according to Solly
Kuppan, transportation planner at Aurecon.
This refers particularly to the area of the
Bayhead/Iran Roads intersection and the
entrance to the Cutler Complex (the bulk and
oil terminals of Island View Storage).
But the road construction companies have
been doing their best to ensure the efficient
flow of traffic where they have narrowed
Bayhead Road 100 metres north east of IVS
– including requesting the Metro Police to
undertake traffic control.
But things have not been going as
smoothly as the road builders hoped.
There is talk in the industry that the
long-standing agreement between the port
authorities and the Durban Metro Police that
the port will pay for necessary traffic control
measures is bogged down over some internal
politics.
There are also complaints that there is a
backlog at the IVS, and that the bulk trucks
and tankers which service the terminals
are jammed up and increasing the road
congestion problem.
In response to the incoming calls of
complaint, the Aurecon Group has been
recommending that the callers “make the
necessary bookings/arrangements with
their business partners before going to the
Bayhead area”, Kuppan told FTW.
“We are also suggesting that road
transporters ensure that their drivers obey
both the road signs and Metro Police to
facilitate a better flow of traffic.”