{pp}As rolling blackouts affect South Africa nationally, solar-powered traffic lights are hoped to alleviate some of the chaos.
An amount of R40 million has already been committed to the project, run by the Central Energy Fund (CEF)group of companies and a number of critical intersections have been earmarked for the project, said the group’s CEO Mputumi Damane on Tuesday.Areas identified by local roads agencies include Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, Nelson Mandela Bay and Nelspriut.Damane said, "This is an urgent intervention to help alleviate the chaos on our roads which results from power outages and which is impacting negatively on the economy of our country, whenever there is load-shedding."More than 2 000 critical traffic intersections were identified in Johannesburg alone, including the Grayston Drive intersection, one of the main arteries leading into the central Sandton business precinct. National Energy Efficiency Agency spokesman Barry Bredenkamp said that the project was alleviating the energy crisis in the broader context.“Traffic congestion leads to unnecessary use of petroleum, which in itself is becoming a scarce and expensive form of energy," said Bredenkamp.“Productivity, losses, injuries as a result of potential accidents at uncontrolled intersections, exhaust emissions from stationary motor vehicles, when quantified in monetary terms, all have a major adverse effect on the overall economy of our country."Components for the installation of the traffic lights have been flown in, due to the urgency of the project and the first installations are expected to take place in Johannesburg in the next few weeks, said Damane.Damane said that due to the support from major organisations, funds available for the project could rise to more than R100 million."Pledges of major funding are flowing in and a number of agreements are being finalised with key private sector institutions who we will name in due course, once the formalities related to the approval and transfer of funds have been concluded," he said.He added that funders stand to enjoy a double benefit for their contribution in the form of a 150% claim from the South African Revenue Service with the submission of their next tax return.Sapa
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Published in Tourism, Cars, Traffic