By Joseph Ring Lang
For a number of days in the month of August 2023, in a period approximately three consecutive days (3), the traffic was logjam on Gudele Road in Juba.
The cause of the logjam was an area which is roughly one (1) kilometer long – in the middle of twin lanes of the road. The road contractor had refused to separate the twin lanes where vehicles move towards different directions – to either East or West. That road was asphalted immediately after independence of South Sudan.
During rush hours, that area use to create a lot of inconvenience especially for the pedestrians trying to cross the road. At best, the pedestrians were terrified and at worst some of them got injured or lost their lives.
The authorities that were supposed to be concerned with the safety of the pedestrians never noticed the problem. In spite of the fact that the above-mentioned area, used to slowdown traffic to almost standstill during rush hours nothing was done about.
The city Mayor and other authorities used to circumnavigate those difficulties by moving with a vehicle that makes a bustling noise for the motorists to give them the right of way.
Traffic logjam result
The logjam of the three days made the authorities for the first time vulnerable like the public. The vehicles with the bustling noise that created for them the leeway to move freely couldn’t work. As a result of that, the town authorities decided to solve the problem.
They immediately brought in a road contractor to close the empty gap between the twin asphalted lanes. The separation of the two, a twin lane was raised to around a quarter of a meter high. The construction was done in less than two days, but it was an incomplete job.
Why incomplete
The raised pavement in the middle of the twin lanes became an ideal lane for the motorcyclist to move on freely at high speed towards opposite directions. In that respect, the double twin lanes are located at the center of the residential area and pedestrians need to cross the road most of the time. With no stopover between the opposite directions of the twin lanes, the pedestrians can easily be crushed by the fast-moving motorcyclist that move on the raised pavement at highway speed.
In the light of that, do the authorities of Juba Town Council and other authorities and other connected authorities need another logjam on the road or not – so that they wake up from their reveries and finish their incomplete job according to their mandate? I simply don’t know the answer.
Let us wait and see what will transpire.
You can reach the author through E-mail; Josephlang2020@gmail.com,langjr2002@yahoo.com