‘Chaos in Werner List street’A

Windhoek resident sent us the following complaints regarding Werner List Street in the city centre which has according to him/her gotten chaotic and hazardous to pedestrians and motorists alike. Joshua Amukugo, Public Relations Officer of the City of Windhoek (CoW) responded to the complaints.

The Namibian Consumer: When is the City going to end the chaos and lawlessness in Werner List street? Over lunch time, when parents from the Holy Cross Convent pick up their children, the one way becomes even more chaotic than usual.
COW: We share similar concerns over the state of affairs as far as Werner List is concerned.

Our prognosis of the current disorder shows a number of attributing factors that are mainly characterized by engineering problems regarding public transport facilities on the one hand and lack of parking facilities at Convent School.
COW: Numerous attempts to find a lasting solution for the school parents ranging from a pedestrian bridge over Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue or the provision of a dropping-off area adjacent to Werner List Street proved futile.
In addition, defects within the legislation, ineffective traffic adjudication system and the absence of demerit or point penalty system, taxis over-population, lack of balance between the road network capacity and vehicular population just to mention a few.
Our interventions include selective law enforcement actions that are carried out with uncompromising determination having due regard of the magnitude of responsibilities that we are faced with all over the city.
The City Engineer is currently considering the implementation of a dedicated taxi lane that would separate taxis from other traffic and thus improve mobility.
We are of the opinion that the solution to this problem is a three-partite approach between the school, the parents and the city.

There is no white lines to indicate lanes.
COW: The City Engineer is currently considering the implementation of a dedicated taxi lane that would separate taxis from other traffic and thus improve mobility. Road markings will be installed once the dedicated taxi lane is completed.
The pedestrian crossing has not been painted on after the road surface was upgraded a year ago and cars just simply do not give chance for pedestrians to cross. There’s also no traffic officer helping pedestrians across the street. Taxis park and pick up passengers anywhere they want.
COW: The concern was noted with appreciation and measures will be considered to assist the pedestrians.

Trucks loading off stuff at Pick n Pay and Shoprite sometimes completely block off the traffic flow in the street with no traffic officers in sight.
COW: We are considering the restriction of heavy vehicles from entering Werner List Street during peak hours.

Why are you allowing this lawlessness?
COW: We beg to differ with the opinion. it should be noted that as a matter of fact, traffic problems can only be addressed once we adopt a community road safety partnership, which seeks to move beyond a police-driven traffic safety agenda and finger pointing.

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