Ramp metering, aimed at regulating traffic joining the highway to ensure better flow, has been introduced on the Samrand, New Road and Rooihuiskraal on-ramps on the Ben Schoeman highway. The SA National Roads Agency - in charge of the project - believes that the system will work once motorists get used to it.
I noticed that the metering lights for the ramp from Highway 17 were off. Is this the cause behind the stop-and-go traffic? Will they be turning them back on? What’s the reason why these metering lights have not been on? If any skeptics need proof of why metering lights are needed, check out the 17-85 area. The meters are suddenly not working. Traffic is a mess.
Despite the sound bite that “New strategies may be necessary to manage congestion,” traffic meters and carpool lanes aren’t new ideas. They’re just new to the San Joaquin Valley. Freeways without meters in Los Angeles are the exception, not the rule, because, when used in the right situations, they work. (Although they don’t perform miracles.)
