A few weeks ago, we covered the news of the City of Cape Town rejecting the latest proposal of how to solve the conundrum of the unfinished freeway bridge located near the V&A Waterfront in town.
Gareth Ramsay, the brains behind the proposal, put forward the idea of connecting Woodstock and Sea Point with a train line, which would utilise the existing unfinished highway structure and go a long way in reducing the terrible congestion motorists experience on a daily basis.
However, the City were having none of it and the proposal now looks to be off the table.
But when one believes so strongly in something, a fight is awoken - and that is exactly what Ramsay is planning to do.
Ramsay is determined to keep his proposal alive, and in an exclusive interview with Time Out Cape Town, the Development Engineer who specialises in Automation breaks his silence and puts forward his thoughts on why this is still the best option when it comes to completing the highway that has stood unfinished since 1977.
What exactly are you proposing to the City when it comes to the unfinished freeway bridge?
At the end of last year, the City announced that it would be releasing a 4.5 Ha piece of land in Three Anchor Bay for mixed-use development. It was suggested that the proceeds from the sale of this land could be used to fund other big infrastructure projects within the city, such as the completion of the foreshore freeways, a feasibility study of which is currently on-going. Additionally, the mixed-use development of the Three Anchor Bay site suggested having a strong focus on affordable/social housing - which would be great for the select few who would benefit from this affordable housing, but likely won’t stay affordable for long once the owners decide to sell them at actual market value. Additionally, it would not address the greater issue of access to the city and does not make economic sense for the City due to the loss of potential revenue streams in the medium to long term.
This is when I thought, how can we compromise and kill three proverbial birds with one stone, so to speak, by satisfying all these three needs and requirements of:
- Increasing affordable and efficient access to the city and opportunities for all citizens of Cape Town in order to redress the injustices of our past - simply building more “affordable housing” in high value areas does not address this issue.
- Achieve a significant capital injection for the City to fund infrastructure projects while at the same time generating a future revenue streams for the City in the form of rates and taxes.
- Contribute to the reduction of congestion and traffic within the city to decrease travel time for commuters, make the city more pedestrian friendly and break the cycle of car-centric development which is what has led Cape Town to be one of the most congested cities in the world.
Therefore, instead of focusing on completing the unfinished foreshore freeways to reduce traffic congestion and using the Three Anchor Bay site mainly for “affordable” residential housing to increase affordable access to the city, I published my concept proposal as an alternative solution to all of the above.
The proposal envisages an integrated extension to the existing PRASA rail network, with a new line running from Woodstock Station to Sea Point, on an elevated train line that follows the course of the unfinished freeways, along the median of Helen Suzman Boulevard, passing Cape Town Stadium and continuing down the unused parking lots between Helen Suzman Boulevard and Green Point Main Road until it reaches the proposed train terminus on the Three Anchor Bay development site. The line would include stations at CTICC1, Cape Town Stadium and the Sea Point terminus. The train terminus is intended to be incorporated into this Three Anchor Bay mixed-use development site and will provide far more access to this part of the city than any amount of “affordable housing” or finished foreshore freeways ever could. At the same time, this would reduce the need for car-centric design in the city as the line could have a capacity of 30 000 people per hour per direction, in bi-directional operations.
Why do you believe this proposal is the right move for the unfinished freeway bridge and Cape Town as a whole?
The City is in the unfortunate position where it is sitting with a relatively binary decision to make; either complete the unfinished foreshore freeways further, deepening the motor vehicle-centric design of the city, or consider this proposal or a version thereof centered around some form of mass public transportation system.
Previous estimates a few years ago put the cost of completing the foreshore freeways at over R2.1 billion, meaning that this could now easily cost R2.5 to R3 billion now. However, contrary to what most believe, it will not solve the congestion issues within the city but likely worsen them in the long term. Unfortunately, case studies worldwide show that more freeways do not achieve a reduction in congestion but rather worsen it over time. Finishing the foreshore freeways will doom the city for decades to come and further remove the city from the ocean with a concrete divide, destroying what makes the city so special, being cornered between an ocean and a natural wonder of the world.
The approach from the City should be to “future-proof” the city and the many potential developmental and demand scenarios it may face. When motivating my proposal to various interested groups, I often use the following scenario to make my point, given the City’s push to be the event, tourist and conference destination of choice worldwide:
Imagine it is a working Friday afternoon with the normal afternoon rush leaving the city. It is also the end of the month, so those wanting to do some shopping at the Waterfront or want a Friday evening out on the town are making their way into the city for the social life. Additionally, it is peak tourist season and two cruise liners are docked at the cruise terminal, disembarking and embarking passengers. There is also a sold out rugby match at Cape Town Stadium, kicking off at 6pm, as well as a sold out premier of a new show at the Artscape Theatre and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra is performing to a sold out crowd at City Hall. Added to this, CTICC1 is currently hosting a massive conference such as the Mining Indaba and the entire CTICC2 is booked out for a large private event.
My question is, will the City, its resources and current transportation networks be able to cope with this scenario?
Without any form of study or scientific investigation, anyone will say that the simple answer is no. Add a small fender bender to the above scenario on the outbound foreshore freeway and you are left with an even greater exacerbation to the problem.
In short, this train line proposal keeps the city’s options open to accommodate the tourist, business, event and economic boom the city would like to see in the future and also allows for many additional public transport projects to be integrated into this train line, such as the re-introduction for trams within the city, which my concept proposal has made provision for as well.
Who within Cape Town will benefit from your proposal, should it come to life?
With Cape Town aiming to be an inclusive city for all citizens, regardless of socio-economic class, I think the answer to this is quite simple, if we pose the following question: Will the completion of the unfinished foreshore freeways be of more benefit to the richer or the poorer citizens of Cape Town?
Additionally, in the words of Enrique Penalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia: “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”
This is a rather profound statement and points to the fact public transportation should not be a sub-standard service, perceived to be for the “lower class citizens” to move around, simply because they have no other choice. But rather public transport should be of such a high standard and quality that even the rich are willing to leave the comfort of their private vehicles to make use of a convenient, efficient and well run public transport network.
Apart from the above social and political reasoning for this proposal being a better alternative to the current options of completing the foreshore freeway, there are many other potential economic benefits for citizens and the city alike. In terms of the city, with the elevated train line removing the need to complete foreshore freeways, it opens up the vast expanse of that foreshore precinct between the elevated freeways for development. This is likely the most valuable piece of unused land belonging to the City, and is probably one of the most valuable pieces of unused land in South Africa, if not the continent. The freeing up of this land allows for an additional capital injection stream which can be used to further fund the proposed elevated train line. Additionally, if the train line reduced vehicle demand on the foreshore freeways, it also opens up scope for the re-alignment of these freeways which would further increase the area of potential land for development. All this would provide the City with a capital injection in the short term and in the medium to long term there would be a significant amount of new rates and tax revenue generation for the City as a result of these developments.
From a citizen’s point of view, this train line opens up a myriad of opportunities to those who in the past have struggled to access this part of the city in an affordable and efficient manner. It has the potential to significantly reduce private vehicle use in the CBD and Atlantic Seaboard, saving citizens time and money, making the city more pedestrian friendly and improving mental health and productivity of workers who no longer need to spend hours fighting traffic to and from work each day.
And of course it would solve the nightmarish traffic jams we see at every single large Cape Town Stadium event, reducing the cost of hosting events for the City in terms of the additional traffic and metro police resources they need to deploy to control traffic within the city during major events.
What type of support have you received for your proposal?
I have received support from private citizens, city councillors, numerous working groups, advocacy organisations and urban development planners, all wanting to see a more inclusive and pedestrian friendly city. They have all indicated their support for the proposal. There has also been some interest from the private sector and I am sure that a project like this would also attract willing private sector investment, especially from those who would stand to benefit from an elevated train line of this nature.
Why do you believe the City is not as open as you would have hoped to your proposal?
I think the proposal challenges the “easy” route or options that the City has available to it and it definitely challenges the status quo of current projects being pursued by the City. I am under no misconception that achieving a project like this will be extremely difficult given the numerous stakeholders that would be involved in the various levels of government and state-owned enterprises alone; add to this the private sector interests and it may be very difficult to find something that will work for everyone. But at the end of the day, the question must be, what is the best solution for the citizens and economy of Cape Town and if this ideology is at the heart of decision making, I think that it will be very easy for all these stakeholders to find each other and it is definitely something that I would be personally willing to contribute to finding a solution for if I was asked by the City for further input on the proposal.
Additionally, engaging on this would be a great way for the city to show that it is serious about the devolution of passenger rail to become the responsibility of the metro.
What is your message to the City as to why they should take your proposal seriously?
The city has a binary choice to either doom itself to congestion and motor vehicle-centric urban design for the next 50 to 100 years if it goes the route of completing the foreshore freeways, or it can enable an efficient, reliable and affordable public transport system that even the wealthy will choose over private vehicles, in turn “future-proofing” the city, helping to fund broader access and opportunity for all, and contributing to the development of the entire metro area. When urban mobility is accessible and excellent for everyone, equity follows.
For more information about the proposal and what is suggested within it, watch the video below:
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