7 Passes road marred by litter and speeding

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The Seven Passes Road between George and Wilderness is a tourist attraction, but speedsters make it unsafe – and littering and illegal dumping deface the lovely scenery in places.

Andy Blew, who regularly cycles in the pass, complains about cars, trucks and buses that speed through while the speed limit is only 40km/h.

"It is a historic road built between 1867 and 1882 under the guidance of Thomas Bain. It has two stone bridges that are national monuments crossing over two beautiful rivers, the Silver River and Kaaimans River. It travels through beautiful areas of natural forest and gorgeous, whisky-coloured rivers. These are tourist gems that need to be highlighted."

He has seen overturned cars along the road on numerous occasions. "It is a popular cycling route, but very unsafe because of speeding vehicles. The African Express buses carrying children from Wilderness Heights have improved, but the children on the buses throw rubbish from the windows."

Blew gets someone at his own cost and time to clean up the roadsides from time to time. He would like the provincial traffic department to check speeds there once in a while.

Accidents aplenty
The George Herald last year reported on a vehicle that had left the road and landed at the bottom of the Silver River bridge. The driver had apparently lost control. About a month earlier, a cyclist was badly injured when he was hit by an oncoming car. He fell about 5m down the rocky hillside into the bush and was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.

Quinton Williams, traffic chief at the George office of the provincial traffic department, told the newspaper that Blew's concerns will be attended to as a matter of urgency. "I met with the Wilderness Residents' and Ratepayers' Association two weeks ago where similar issues were discussed. For the time being, I allocated an officer who resides in the Touwsranten area to take care of the area and report back to me regularly."

He said that between the provincial and municipal traffic departments, plans are being put in place to address the situation. Speed enforcement is to be done, visibility enhanced at certain times of the day and week, and weekend operations are to be conducted.

The George Municipality's communications department confirmed that the George traffic department does law enforcement on the road. The municipal cleansing services section has also responded to Blew's complaint by sending workers out daily to clean the area.

One of the historic bridges reaches over the Kaaimans River.