Think I've mentioned this before but many of the public transport plans aren't thought up for 2010 but have been on the cards for 10-20 years if not more. 2010 has merely provided the catalyst to finally get them going. Cape Town's transport spending is likely to top the initialy R7 billion estimate moving closer towards R10 billion after including the R1billion + airport rail link and the additional R836m secured for the integrated bus rapid system.
Much to be gained from pain of Hospital Bend roadworks
2010 has merely been a catalyst for an 'essential' revamp that has been on the cards since the 1970s
By Lesley Byram
The 25-month, R225-million Hospital Bend upgrade has begun. Trevor Steyn, spokesperson for the mayoral committee member for roads and stormwater, Elizabeth Thompson, offers some words of encouragement to commuters.
How long has the Hospital Bend upgrade been on the cards?
The first time they began talking about doing something was some time in the 1970s. It's been on the cards for a long time, every time looking at different options. Also, the longer you wait, the more it costs, but I think finally the city made a decision that it had to be done and it was brought in as part of the 2010 system.
It's one of those things that you get some joy out of hosting 2010. It helps not only to make sure that you get partners in government to come with the funding, but also that you are bound by time lines to make certain things happen.
Does the 25-month countdown begin from this week, now work has started?
Roughly, 25 months began on January 1, but now that they have begun working, let's say we're working on a two-year plan to complete the work.
What will the working hours of the roadworks teams be?
It's a difficult situation. On the one hand you say to the contractor, "I want this road done in two years", and therefore they have to plan, giving themselves some down time or breakage time, but they know that they are under penalty in terms of having to complete it.
What we stipulated in the contract was that we still wanted to claim the roads. It's like having your cake and eating it. We want to have the best use of the road. We acknowledge that what we are doing is for the better and when it's finished everyone will want to kiss us for having done this job, but at the same time we recognise that there may be some disruptions.
What we're asking is that disruptions be kept to a minimum. From a community point of view, people need to know that the city has insisted and made sure it's part of a contract that we want to keep disruption to the public to minimum.
Approximately 105 000 cars a day use Hospital Bend. How much of a difference are you expecting the upgrade will make to traffic flow?
I think that once the work is completed, the first thing is that some of the bend will have been taken out, so you no longer will have a snake bend that is dangerous to vehicles on the other side while having this pre-selection of lanes. You will have to select your lane quite far back and then fly-over into the section of road you want to go to, which would mean that you should have a free flow of traffic.
Probably there will be lower speed during peak hours, but it shouldn't be as congested as it is, although it will be a tremendous upgrade for public transport as the BMT lane will be extended right into the city.
The focus is very much on getting projects completed for 2010. What plans does the City of Cape Town have for roads thereafter?
Twenty-ten is a kind of catalyst, but you also need to see that the city administration made a decision. First of all, there's the Integrated Development Programme for the City of Cape Town and part of that is the Integrated Transport Plan which stretches to 2011, the term of the present administration. That plan was not done specifically with 2010 in mind. What it did was say: "What is it that needs to be done over the next five years to make sure that the city is a better city in five years?"
If we are talking about making sure it is a world-class city, then we have to improve our infrastructure. We have major infrastructure upgrades that need to be done, but we also have new infrastructure we need to fit in, so all of this is part of the integrated plan.
Twenty-ten comes along and there are certain requirements, so the city then has to say: "How can we successfully integrate the plan we have with some of the 2010 demands?" So some plans were just pushed up the ladder a bit. But the plans are not 2010 plans. You don't want to create the impression to your citizens that you're only doing something because of 2010. It's not true. It's a total plan to develop the infrastructure of the city.
There are other things that will come, but it is a total plan to develop the city's infrastructure within the framework and timeframe of the present administration, and then the next administration will have to decide how to take the next phase. The city's infrastructure is taking substantial strain with the increase in its population and so on.
Work on the additional lane on the N2 from Vanguard Drive to Borchards Quarry is under way, but when will the other projects begin - the Koeberg interchange, Muizenberg Main Road and Granger Bay Boulevard?
Koeberg interchange is driven from the provincial office, but we understand that all these works would probably get under way within the next two to three months, maximum. Then I think you'll find they'll be busy all over the place.
Any words of encouragement for commuters?
We want to say that we recognise that some people will be negatively affected by the upgrades and we're not going to hide that. Someone once said, "No pain, no gain". But we do not intentionally want to inflict any pain.
What we want to do is make it better and we have to do this and it's necessary.
Be assured that, wherever we can, we will try to make it as easy as possible. When it's done you will know that it was worth any inconvenience you might have suffered. We ask you to bear with us for now.
Interview by Lesley Byram
Published on the web by Cape Times on March 6, 2008.
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