City’s traffic headaches

Horst Lindstedt, Vredehoek

First of all let me thank you for the latest update by your writer, Mika Williams, (“Future of the freeway discussed”, Atlantic Sun, March 9). While the ugly matter drags on and on, the number of vehicles piling up at the tip of the Convention Centre increases by the month,

I wonder about the current hype. Construction plans to close that simple 400m gap slumber in the drawer for decades. On top of it nobody seems to notice that on the in-bound, Cullinan hotel side of Buitengracht, a fine pedestrian bridge was completed right in time for the 2010 football World Cup.

Whereas on the out-bound side such convenient means for the unlucky pedestrians is still missing.

Well, would you wonder why?

And why does even Mr Herron forget to point out the millions of litres of fossil fuels senselessly wasted in the daily traffic jams caused by the missing link?

The city council seems to be all too proud with regard to all the new big foreshore office blocks. But did they really make a plan to cope with the ever increasing traffic volume in due course?

Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, responds:

I invite Mr Lindstendt to visit the Civic Centre where the six development proposals for the Foreshore Freeway Precinct are on display. The proposals were submitted by the private sector and will be self-funding.

The proposals address the very same challenges Mr Lindstendt has mentioned in his letter: the congested entry and exit points to and from the CBD, and the future access needs across all modes of transport – be it private vehicles, public transport, or walking and cycling.

We are well aware of the fact that residents and visitors need improved access to the greater business district, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town Stadium and Atlantic Seaboard, among others.

Also that we need long-term solutions to address the traffic congestion on FW de Klerk Boulevard, Nelson Mandela Boulevard, Walter Sisulu Avenue, Helen Suzman Boulevard and Buitengracht.

As such, the developers have come forward with interesting and exciting solutions for the unfinished highways on the western, central and eastern side of the Foreshore Freeway Precinct.

The proposals also address the need for affordable housing in the city and the implementation of transit-oriented development – a vision that stipulates that new developments should be a high-density mix of housing, shopping and recreational opportunities. The proposals also address the need for environmentally-friendly transport choices which will enable residents and visitors to walk, cycle or use public transport.

The exhibition is running until Tuesday March 21, between 8.30am and 4pm.

I encourage Mr Lindstendt to view the proposals and to tell us what he thinks. We would like all our residents to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape one of the most valuable, vital and iconic precincts in the Mother City.