The slow morning traffic of Riverside View has become a nightmare and a weekday morning annoyance for many Riverside View morning commuters. A line of Vehicles come to a stop or start moving slowly as they try to exit the community using the two-lane Porcupine Park Ave. According to Busie Ngcobo, a community member and public transport commuter, “ It takes an estimate of maybe 20 to 25 minutes just to exit Riverside and get out of traffic.”

The Community of Riverside View has been experiencing lots of morning traffic or road congestion. With more housing developments in Riverside view still in construction and underway it can be said that the population of the community is still increasing. An increase in the population will potentially mean more road congestion as more commuters will flood the one exit the Riverside View community has to offer. Porcupine Park Ave is a two-lane road[ the lanes are going in opposing directions] and is currently serving as the only exit of the community.

Driving on the wrong side of the road[oncoming traffic] is what the community and many commuters have resorted to in attempts to lessen congestion and get through the traffic much quicker. The oncoming traffic driving creates an alternate route for the vehicles exiting Riverside View but however presents a problem for the vehicles coming into Riverside View which can sometimes cause more traffic and congestion.

According to Google Maps live traffic function, the last two circles on Porcupine Park Ave are the ones with the most congestion and slow moving traffic. The Google Maps recorded peak times for traffic in this specific area are from 6 am to 8 am, these times are popular for commuters as they are on their way to work and school. Dimakatso

Tshabalala a community member, and private transport commuter said she leaves the house around 6:30 am and gets stuck in traffic. She also expressed she tried adjusting her departure time to 7:30 to 8 am but there was still traffic.

Being stuck in traffic is not just an annoyance but a big inconvenience as many end up being late and catch traffic on other busy roads such as Willaim Nicol and they eventually arrive late at their workplaces. Busie said traffic makes her late to work and always being late creates a bad impression and reputation. Dimakatso went on to say that she feels the effects of traffic because she gets to work late which means her workday is shortened putting her under pressure as she has to deal with her workload in a shorter span of time.

A long-term solution for the current traffic situation in Riverside is needed and is underway as the road construction is still in progress on William Nicol and the reality of a second exit draws near. For the time being a short-term solution suggested by Dimakatso is for the community to allocate enough volunteers to control traffic or for a consistent deployment of enough traffic police to control traffic every morning.