There are many parts of the Durbanville and Fisantekraal areas that have high volumes of pedestrian traffic, but nowhere for residents to walk safely.
The City of Cape Town has completed nearly 17 kilometres in new walkways for these areas, and an additional seven kilometres is still to be built.
The non-motorised transport (NMT) project commenced in July 2019, with an investment of R35-million to create up to 24km of new sidewalks and safe pedestrian walkways in Fisantekraal and Durbanville by August 2021.
“These areas have many pedestrians walking to and from work, in particular domestic workers and other blue collar workers. The new paths will also benefit those with special needs, children, scholars, and the elderly. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect that walking and cycling to destinations, and exercise in the open air will become increasingly popular as people need to practice social distancing, which is making the implementation of this project even more urgent,” said Felicity Purchase, the City’s MayCo Member for Transport.
The project is progressing well, despite the fact that no work was allowed for about six weeks during Alert Level 5 and 4 of the national lockdown.
“We still have another seven kilometres of sidewalks and walkways to go before the project is completed and are looking forward to seeing residents using the new safe facilities,” said Purchase.
The formalising of footpaths in the Morningstar area is nearly done. The City will, within the next few days, commence with work on existing informal footpaths in four public parks in central Durbanville and the Nerina neighbourhood. The work will last for about three weeks, pending inclement weather conditions.
The public parks are located between Agulhas Crescent, Claasens Avenue and Primrose Crescent.
“The parks are close to Koeberg Road and many people walk through these public open spaces on their way to and from work. Given that the current footpaths are informal, they become muddy during winter. We will be using asphalt to turn these into formal footpaths of about 1,8m wide, and this walkway will cover a distance of about 800m across all three parks. Once completed, pedestrians and cyclists will have a decent path to enjoy the natural surroundings. I want to thank the neighbouring communities in advance for their patience while we are working in these parks,” said Purchase.
The NMT project in Fisantekraal and Durbanville entails the following:
- Construction of new sidewalks
- Upgrades to existing sidewalks
- Creating universal access for pedestrians with special needs
- Upgrading existing cycle lanes to ensure that they are clearly demarcated and signed
- Minor road upgrades to accommodate the new NMT routes in Fisantekraal, Durbanville and Bellville
- Raising manhole covers and valve boxes
- Repair of stormwater infrastructure
- Relocation of streetlights
- Protection and/or relocation of existing services including Telkom, optic fibre service providers, water and sewer services,
- Excavation by hand to locate existing underground services
Work has been completed already along a number of roads in Durbanville, Bellville, and Fisantekraal, including:
De Villiers Drive, Sport Way, Fairtrees Road, Langeberg Road, Tara Road, Lubbe Street, Tambotie Street, Fluweeltjie Road, Lords Walk, Foot Way, Tindale Way, Dagbreek Street, Aandblom Road, Church Street, Race Course Road, Langenhoven Street, the pathway between Boucher Street and High Street; Saartjie Baartman Street, Ruth First Street, Peter Mokaba Raod, Chris Hani Road, Shiraz Ebrahim Street, and Sierra Street.
The construction and upgrade of sidewalks are currently underway in Durbanville:
Along Queen Street, New Street, Koeberg Road, Vissershok Road, Durban Road, and Van der Byl Road.
“Up to 47 men and women from the Morningstar and Fisantekraal areas are temporarily employed through this contract, and another three local subcontractors are also providing goods and services to the City’s main contractor. These job opportunities and subcontracting tenders provide much needed assistance to households and entrepreneurs in need of an income while we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Purchase added.
Picture: Supplied/City of Cape Town