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On Monday morning (15 January) another oversized truck became stuck in Bains Kloof Pass, damaging a section of the pass and once again obstructing the traffic flow.
The very large horse-and-trailer entered from the Wolseley side of the pass, ignoring warning signs that heavy vehicles more than 3,68 m high cannot use this historic mountain pass, especially due to low overhanging cliffs and to the sensitivity of the pass. The driver also ignored the overhead warning bars that would have struck the trucks cabin. And this barely a week after these bars had been repaired, due to damage caused by the trucks.
Only about 1 km before Dacres Pulpit, also known as the “Preekstoel”, the driver the realised he could not travel any further and then started to reverse back down towards the Wolseley, and in so doing damaged one of the stone sidewalls of the pass.
Currently the pass has been closed to traffic while the truck is being guided down by traffic authorities.
This comes once again despite continuous pleas to provincial and local traffic authorities and municipalities to reach a clear conclusion on how to prevent these trucks from illegally driving over the pass, a situation that takes place just about weekly.
Residents of Bains Kloof as well as the concerned conservation community of Wellington have had an ongoing battle with the authorities over this for years now, without any concerted efforts made to stop this behaviour of truckers.
Paarl Post has reported on this on numerous occasions in recent years.
According to Andy Connell, a resident of Bains Kloof who keeps a close eye on the situation, over the past two years there have been almost 57 trucks that have got into difficulties when entering the pass illegally.
And in many of these cases the pass is then closed to traffic for nearly 24 hours or more while salvage work is done – that too at a tremendous cost.
These incidents occur almost weekly, despite clear warnings about the maximum weight and height of vehicles allowed to travel over the pass, on both the Wellington and Wolseley side of the pass.
Connell also said that at the end of 2023, after several such incidents, the string of emails and phone calls made to the Western Cape government were still unanswered.
Concerns are also being expressed about this historic pass that could be ruined because it was not built for heavy vehicles and the road could give way over time.
In cases where trucks are caught driving here, they simply place the blame for their “mistake” on Google Maps, which in certain cases indicates Bains kloof Pass as being the shortest route to and from, say, Ceres.
The provincial authorities are therefore also called on to liaise with the Google Maps organisation at the highest level to indicate Bains Kloof Pass as being problematic for trucks.
Truck drivers’ claim that they follow instructions via Google Maps.
However, said the Wellington community, this is not an excuse because of the clear warning signs as well as overhead chain warnings that will hit trucks’ cabin when they enter the pass.
Jandré Bakker, spokesperson for the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure, said the department was aware of the issue.
“We have contacted the major GPS companies/apps to request that restriction notices be placed on this route,” he said.
“However, most indicated that their current setup does not allow for differentiated messages between different vehicle types.
“Standard messages or warnings can be added and, most have indicated that they will be included in future developments.
“However, it remains the road user’s duty to heed such messages. Height and length restriction signs are in place on both sides of the pass. We received requests for different signs. Deviation from this will not be legal.
“An overhead bar has also been installed on both sides of the pass, but vehicles hit the weights with such force that they can break and have to be replaced.
“The Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) is in the process of replacing these height restriction indicator weights.”
But concerned residents and lovers of Bains Kloof agree that there should be access control on both sides of the pass, which would prevent heavy trucks from using the pass from the outset and prevent destruction of the pass.
