Joburg road closure policy

Suburban road closures by residents of Sandton (and other areas of northern Johannesburg) have been a contentious issue ever since pre-democracy 1992, when the South African Police first recommended the procedure for then crime-ridden Gallo Manor, says luxury property marketer Ronald Ennik.

The good news is that today, more than 20 years later, the Johannesburg City Council has reportedly become more positive and refreshingly level-headed about the issue – apparently in the belief that road closures uplift neighbourhoods by improving safety and security, adds the principal of Christie’s International Real Estate-affiliated Ennik Estates.

Johannesburg-based town planner Rick Raven says that the city fathers have formulated a policy that now permits resident-initiated road closure – provided that the procedure is carried out in line with City rules and doesn’t cause congestion and disruption of traffic flow.

“Our recent experience with the Council on this issue has been extremely positive,” adds Raven.

“This is clearly good for the residential property market,” Ennik notes.

“Homes along and around roads that are either closed off or securely boomed have historically attracted noticeably higher interest from prospective buyers than those with open road access. Furthermore, they have also spent less time on the market before being sold.

“Unfortunately for homeowners, a more open-minded Council policy on road closure is unlikely to dilute or eliminate ‘suburban dash’ – the increasing tendency of frustrated motorists to peel out of Sandton’s daily traffic logjams and dash through adjacent quiet and leafy suburbs in search of alternative routes,” says Ennik.

“This invariably results in damage to residential streets that were not designed for high traffic flow,” he adds.

“It is a phenomenon that will persist until Jo’burg City/Sandton gets to grips with the estimated 85 000-plus vehicles (carrying close to 150 000 people) which move in and out of the Sandton precinct during peak hour traffic each day.

“According to the Council, up to 70 per cent of these trips are undertaken in private cars, concludes Ennik.

In spite of the Council’s now more receptive approach to new applications for road closures, Raven warns that suburban communities who have neglected to submit applications for renewal of existing short-term (three- to five-year) road closures must not expect an accommodating reception when they get around to doing so.

Sandhurst led the way

Interestingly, Raven says Sandhurst was effectively Sandton’s pioneering suburb of road closure.

It was initially proclaimed as an area with very large (8/9-hectare) properties, which have since been sub-divided and re-sub-divided over time into smaller – yet still comparatively large – properties.

The stand-out difference compared with most other Sandton suburbs, notes Raven, is that Sandhurst’s closed roads generally belong to the properties that adjoin them.