NPA shelves truck stop plan for now

Traffic survey to establish best sites
ALAN PEAT
THE PLAN by the National Ports Authority (NPA) to have a series of truck stops in and around the Durban port area which will act as staging posts for hauliers collecting import cargo has been put on temporary hold – with the authority having to conduct its own traffic study to calculate the best siting for these “Truck Stop Inns”. Their intention was that information technology (IT) systems would be put in place to enable hauliers to establish the status of the cargo they are collecting before proceeding to the port. This to avoid the current landside congestion as vessel delays, for example, impact on roadfreight operators. The NPA also planned to outsource the project and hoped to be able to call for proposals from the private sector late last year. But a time-out had to be called on all this when the NPA found that the traffic survey scheme by the city of Durban traffic authorities – a macro-study designed to assess the causes and find the answers to traffic congestion – did not include figures which would allow them to headline the traffic flow indicators which would show the best sites for these truck stops. “It was not part of the city’s portfolio, so we’re going to have to sort it out ourselves,” Des Simpson, acting senior manager for planning at the NPA, told FTW. The last landlord infrastructure meeting at the NPA authorised the appointment of a consultant to conduct the necessary survey, he added, with that party expected to be appointed soon. “Once we’ve identified the sites, the rest can be put into place very quickly,” Simpson said. “But deciding on the optimum sites for these truck stops is the critical factor.” And this decision is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. The best apparent site is the area currently owned by the harbour authorities alongside the Bayhead Road – which is the main road running past the Durban container terminal (DCT) entrance. However, Simpson told FTW, it is on the opposite side from the DCT, and would mean the trucks pulling back out across the road – a serious congestion factor in its own right. But it remains a possible option. The other best sites currently appear to be inland from the city, but they could be sited anywhere along the N3 highway between the coast and Gauteng - from Pinetown through Marianhill to Cato Ridge – and only a careful study will reveal which is best. So the NPA is to put its own study on the table, where the results will be correlated with those of the Durban city traffic surveyors, Simpson added. And, with truck drivers already having chosen their own unofficial holding areas – double and treble parking along sections of the old South Coast Highway, for example – the port authorities are also going to have to get support for their own scheme via the road transport bodies. “We’ll have to meet and discuss our plans with the transport industry,” said Simpson, “to get the message through about the convenience of using these truck stops – and to hopefully clear up the current congestion caused by waiting vehicles.”