TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTRE : I SPY!

For this outing we first take the bus and drive down to the Traffic Control Centre in Norwood. It lies on the north-west corner of The Parade and Sydenham Road. The entry is off Sydenham Road. Finding parking is not always easy.

Tour guide Mark gives us a short introduction to the two hour tour which we had booked some months earlier. The Centre controls all the traffic lights, and flows of traffic on the city's various highways.

Mark then talks us through the workings of the Centre, accompanied by live and recorded video. Highlights of our visit are video of a fire and a truck jack-knifing in the Heysen tunnel, and the live capture of two graffiti artists on the Southern Expressway. These are reported to police on the spot, but we don't see the outcome! It is an interesting talk, and there are lots of questions from the group.

I thought we might have had access into the control centre itself, but we had to be satisfied with views through the plate glass windows.

After our tour we drive to the Walkers Arms for a very fine buffet lunch with lots of discussion.

This brings our outing to an end, with everyone agreeing it has been an interesting day out together.