TRAFFIC LIGHT UPS Six traffic intersections in Sandton’s CBD have been installed with uninterrupted power supplies to ensure traffic flow
Property management company Sandton Central Management District (SCMD) announced last month its sponsorship of uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units, which have been installed to ensure power is maintained at six key intersections in the Sandton central business district (CBD).
SCMD city improvement district manager Elaine Jack tells Engineering News that the almost R1-million sponsorship to the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), which owns and operates the systems, forms part of a pilot project to determine the reliability and feasibility of deploying the technology to maintain traffic flow during scheduled and unscheduled power cuts in central Sandton.
SCMD and the JRA will monitor and compare the solution’s performance against other solutions such as diesel-fuelled generators.
Jack points out that, while deploying diesel- fuelled generator sets could provide a significant amount of power at several intersections during a power failure, the system was not feasible for individual intersections. “For example, it would be uneconomical to use an 18 000 kVA generator to power one set of traffic lights, which needs about 1 kVA to power it.”
However, Jack says the feasibility of using diesel- fuelled generators to power intersections covering a larger area while using UPS systems for individual intersections will be investigated.
She adds that SCMD is also considering green solutions, such as solar power, which has been deployed at a number of Sandton’s intersections since 2008. However, she points out that the significant capital and operating expenses of solar technology significantly impacts on the economics for large-scale deployment of the solution.
Jack says the public and private sectors are working closely through SCMD “to ensure effective, mobility in and around the city”.
Jack points out that all road users and property owners in the Sandton CBD will benefit from this pilot project, but highlights that the ultimate goal is to change commuter behaviour by promoting public transport, which can be achieved only once public transport systems in the area have improved.
“We learnt a lot during the EcoMobility World Festival, which has provided us with valuable insights for future transportation planning.”
The EcoMobility World Festival 2015, which was held in the Sandton CBD during October, aimed to promote transport with little or no carbon emissions and encouraged public transport, the use of bicycles and walking.
The intersections that have been equipped with the UPS systems include West street and Fredman drive, West street and Alice lane, West street and Maude street, Rivonia road and West street, Sandton drive and Alice lane, and Rivonia road and Sandton drive.