Abstract:
The calming of traffic has three main aims, namely:
1. To enforce an appropriate speed for a specific situation.
2. Furthermore there is a link between manoeuvrability and accessibility. The more
manoeuvrability there is, the greater the tendency is to exceed the speed limit.
3. Furthermore a balance must be maintained between manoeuvrability and traffic
control, so to avoid creating conflict situations and breakdown in traffic flow.
After an in depth literature study of various solutions had been done, it was decided
that the implementation of low-cost minitraffic circles could serve as a possible solution
to certain problem areas in Bloemfontein traffic.
Before the implementation of the mini traffic circles, a traffic survey was done to monitor
traffic speed, and traffic related accidents. The same survey was done after the
implementation and the results show that the mini circles can play an important role
in future traffic calming measures.
In the comparison of data before and after the implementation of the minitraffic circles
has shown a reduction of approximately 12 % in speed and no accidents have been
recorded.
The Municipality has already implemented this minitraffic circle system in numerous
intersection problem areas.
