Motorists traveling between Lautoka and Nadi may soon experience changes to alleviate congestion on the Sabeto stretch, as the Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) plans to conduct an assessment of traffic flow and travel times during peak hours. This review comes in response to criticism from Opposition MP Ketan Lal, who argued that the installation of multiple road humps has increased travel times to over an hour.
Lal expressed concerns that the current measures are counterproductive, describing them as “traffic choking” rather than “traffic calming.” He emphasized that insufficient planning has disrupted daily routines, adversely affected local businesses, wasted fuel, and jeopardized emergency response times. Lal highlighted the consequences, stating that workers are arriving late, students are facing unnecessary stress, and crucial decisions impacting thousands seem to have been made without adequate consultation or traffic studies.
In its defense, the FRA explained that the road alterations are part of its Safe System Evaluation approach, which was adopted in light of rising road fatalities and serious injuries. The authority noted that pedestrians represent a staggering 37 percent of road mortality, while 73 percent of the fatalities and serious injuries involve individuals of economically productive age. This data underscores the importance of managing speed in high pedestrian areas, particularly in the Sabeto region, which has a posted speed limit of 60 km/h deemed unsafe due to significant foot traffic near schools and village frontages.
To address these safety concerns, the FRA is advocating for a Safe System speed limit of 30 km/h in areas with high pedestrian activity, which would be enforced with the use of speed humps and elevated pedestrian crossings. The Waimalika Sabeto Sangam School will be among the top priorities after two serious accidents involving students, both of whom required intensive care at Nadi Hospital.
The forthcoming assessment by the FRA aims to better understand how to balance road safety with commuter efficiency, potentially leading to improvements that could benefit both drivers and pedestrians alike, providing a more effective solution for all road users in the region.
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