Let’s face it, the Prince George Drive section running along Marina da Gama is a mess and just downright dangerous.

For the Marina residents, the notorious Oudevlei Road intersection is a major sore point and residents of San Marina and Uitsig have been complaining for years that this intersection is lethal. Time and again, Council has rejected the idea of a traffic-light at this intersection but at the November 2007 Marina da Gama Association AGM, Demitri Qually, our local Councillor, promised “that the Oudevlei Road Intersection Issue would be sorted out in the next month or two.”

But Qually must have had his map upside down, as the only new traffic light which is making its appearance, is at Cannon Island Way on the other side of Marina da Gama. Why Cannon Island Way was chosen is a mystery, as this was one of the roads which only gave north-bound access to Prince George Drive. The developers must have had some serious muscle though, as not only did they persuade Council to put up a traffic light, they actually managed to get Council to open a gap in the centre island to give both north and south-bound access to the residents. Costa da Gama and other developments along the Eastern side of Prince George Drive still have to make do with first travelling south and then making a u-turn if they want to travel north.Councillor Qually says that they cannot have a traffic light at the Oudevlei intersection as it would be too close to a regional road. The problem is that the regional road they are referring to is the proposed Ring-Road, a road which, at this stage, is still a figment of the imagination and looks to remain so for a long time to come. In the mean time, lives are being placed at risk at the Oudevlei intersection and our Councillor’s promises remain, as always, empty.