A sign of signs for Seven Passes Road

GEORGE NEWS - Road signs warning trucks to not enter the Seven Passes Road between George and Wilderness, will soon be erected.

This follows some drama last week after yet another truck got stuck on this narrow and winding road.

According to Jandré Bakker, a spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, requests for additional signs have not been ignored as stated by some members of the public.

"It had been re-evaluated to bring about enhancements that align with road safety standards and will be implemented in due course. We can confirm that we are expecting the manufactured signs to be delivered during the course of the next two weeks. Installation will take place as soon as received," said Bakker.

Clarity on road ownership

There has recently also been some confusion as to who is responsible for the maintenance of the Seven Passes Road.

According to Bakker, the maintenance of roads falls under one of three road authorities.

These are the national Department of Transport (Sanral) which is the authority for roads such as the N1 and N2, local authorities such as municipalities that must maintain municipal streets, and the provincial Department of Infrastructure.

The Seven Passes Road falls under the authority of the provincial department and not the Garden Route District or George Municipality.

"There are cases where a road could have a section that is under the jurisdiction of a municipality, a following section under province and a following under Sanral. Provincial traffic law enforcement is part of the Western Cape Mobility Department and does not own any roads, but is responsible for law enforcement on roads that are the responsibility of the provincial Department of Infrastructure," said Bakker.

Wild goose chase with GPS

Companies have previously complained that the drivers' GPS shows this particular route as the best option between George and Wilderness. This is exactly what happened to the driver from the logistics company OneLogix who got stuck in front of the Silver River bridge last week.

Bakker said that the department is aware of this issue. "We have engaged the applicable and reputable apps in this regard to flag this and to add warnings should a driver request such a route. Even if our request is favourably considered by these apps, it is still up to drivers to heed the warning," he said.

A truck that got stuck near the Silver River bridge in November last year.

Hard infrastructure

It was considered to install a gantry with gong weights similar to those at Bainskloof Pass. However, according to Bakker, height does not seem to the challenge and there aren't hard infrastructure solutions that can be constructed to limit vehicle length at entries to this road.

He said that routine road maintenance is currently continuing on the road as per normal schedules and any repairs are resource-dependent.

"But even with signage, driver behaviour will always be a risk. A driver may still decide to ignore signage and even hard infrastructure, which has been the case on other roads like Bainskloof Pass," said Bakker.

The start of the road at the top of Madiba Drive near the entrance to Nelson Mandela University.