Dock Road delays for new Aquarium “Glass”

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Quick heads up – the new 36m² chunk of acrylic which is going to make up the front of the new 2 Oceans Aquarium exhibit is arriving this week.

That’s a fair-sized piece of acrylic by anyone’s standards, and so they’re going to need to close a bit of road to get it from where it is (presumably the docks – I think it was coming in from Italy) to where it needs to be (definitely the aquarium). That means that you can probably expect some delays getting into the V&A Waterfront from the CTICC side this week.
Here’s what you need to know, as per the Waterfront’s website:

A short section of Dock Road will be closed due to a crane required to to unload the acrylic wall for the new predator tank at the Aquarium. This is no ordinary cargo….the acrylic wall is manufactured in Italy and measures 9m x 4m x 350mm and will provide a seamless window into the exhibit. The new predator exhibit will contain 1.5 million litres of seawater and will be six metres in depth.
The outgoing two lanes i.e. from the Aquarium to the bend in Dock Rd just past One & Only will be closed. Traffic will be redirected onto the other side of the road, which will therefore be bi-directional from Tuesday 7 October until Friday 10 October. Flagmen will be positioned at the road deviation incoming and outgoing.
We do expect traffic congestion due to the deviation so you are encouraged to enter the V&A Waterfront using Granger Bay and Portswood Boulevards.

There’s loads more information about the new exhibit via this post, detailing our behind the scenes visit.

Average speed camera confirmation

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Average speed over distance cameras are coming for the N2 and M3 in Cape Town.

Traffic_camerasNMBoulevard

Oh, it’s nice to be right. And I was. Specifically in this case, I was right about those average speed cameras I told you about a couple of weeks ago. Here’s the confirmation on the City website.

‘What this means is that a motorist traveling to or from the CBD along the M3 will be monitored between the UCT footbridge and the footbridge over Nelson Mandela Boulevard, just before the Strand Street off-ramp. The same would apply to a motorist traveling in or out on the N2, from the Main Road bridge. Too often, motorists travel at speeds in excess of the legal limit in this area and we hope that the introduction of the system will result in greater compliance with the law – in line with our commitment to create a safe city,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Ugh. The only person I’d rather not give our money to than Robin Carlisle is JP Smith. Ugh.

Anyway, it’s coming soon and whether or not you like JP Smith (no, you don’t), speeding is naughty and you will deservedly have to pay much money if you do it. So don’t.

The story on iol has generated some spectacular comments:

Terrible idea. Paying money as a fine does nothing but fund bonuses and end- of- year parties. I highly doubt that it funds road accident victims and their medical expenses (or funerals).

No, you’re thinking of the Road Accident Fund. That’s the one that funds road accident victims.
This cash goes towards other stuff:

The city collects about R150m a year from fines. Mr Smith said the money went to the city’s general budget and was used for service delivery, including housing, water and electricity.

And this guy, calling himself ‘Captain Sensible’, who hasn’t quite worked out the “average speed” bit of the whole thing:

Average speed cameras are a joke. The idiots who speed for the thrill of it will hoema along from the first one at mach 2, then slow down, and piddle through the second at 30km/h, thus rendering the concept pointless.

Well done.

The route in and out of town consists of tempting downhills each way, and this is going to be a licence to print money for the council. But how much? Here’s a helpful guide to spot fines for speeding in the Western Cape:

14708

  • NRTA 93/1996
  • Sect 59(4)(b) r/w: Exceeding speed limit of 80 km/h indicated by Road Sign.
SpeedFine
91 – 94R200.00
95 – 99R400.00
100 – 104R600.00
105 – 109R800.00
110 – 114R1 000.00
115 – 119R1 200.00
120 – 124R1 400.00
125+No AG

“No AG” means a mandatory court appearance. And quite right too.

Let’s hope that it does help to slow people down and that the fines (when actually collected) are used to make a positive difference – although I’d like that to be directed more towards the traffic department.

The photo that I wanted to share yesterday but couldn’t because the dog ate the internet

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Yes. Weekend readers will know about the difficulties I encountered this weekend in blogging what I wanted to blog, when I wanted to blog it. And yes, I do have mobile interwebs at home, but until we get the new cell tower we’ve been promised (and which some people in the neighbourhood have objected to because of a natural news article), it’s not that great.

But anyway, here’s that amazing photo, from Chris Wormwell (yes, this guy and this guy):

15240561897_83185eadcc_k

Largitude here.

That’s St Michael’s Isle in the bottom right hand corner of the Isle of Man. It’s a place of great historical significance:

There is evidence for human activity on the island from the Mesolithic period onwards and there are two ancient buildings situated on the isle. Both are in a state of ruin and closed to the public, though there are a number of walks which allow visitors to explore the surroundings.

Obviously, one of them (St Michael’s Chapel, built in the 12th Century) is evident in the photo above. You can learn more here, or if you need to know the best bus to catch to get there, try here.

As for the photo: the atmosphere, the peace, the place, the solitude, the muted colours.
Beautiful.

Thanks Chris

Have I Got Hues For You

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UPDATE: On seeing this, I realise the photo is a bit fuzzy. But then, so is the dog. Accuracy abounds and needs must.

I had a wonderful Isle of Man related quota photo lined up for today, but the will have to wait, because we’re struggling with internet connectivity today.

The reason for this outage can be seen in the photo below. Attached to the front end of the dog (I’m no expert, but I think it’s the other end from the kinked tail) are the teeth that chewed through the Telkom junction box, effectively cutting us off from the rest of the world.

“Least said, soonest mended,” he seethed.

image

The photo above, with all its lovely hues, was taken this morning in Tokai Forest. Tokai Forest was still full of (other people’s) dog mess. Everywhere.

Before we had a dog, I figured that there must be some technical or logistical reason why dog owners didn’t clean up after their pets. Now that I am a dog owner, I realise that it’s just laziness, a lack of responsibility and a complete disregard for other people.
I suppose that it’s good to have that clarified, if nothing else. Tossers.

But while we’re on that (rather distasteful) note, does anyone know how long it takes for a Telkom PZ50 switch to “pass through” a beagle, please?