Lommies
Race Dog
Eventually the City has woken up, 10 years late, but ok.
Freight will always cause traffic issues, so if they can address this with a rail solution :thumleft: Is a container depot connected via rail transport out on the N7 or in Joostenberg vlakte not a viable option?
Adding more lanes is not the solution imho, it causes more traffic bottlenecks.
Anyways, it seems as we are in for a bumpy ride until the roadworks are finalised.
https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/n1-plan-to-ease-congestion-in-cape-town-1984440
Cape Town - The Western Cape government and the Cape Town city council have unveiled two major plans to ease congestion on the city’s roads and make them safer.
This includes construction on a project, worth R487 million, which has already begun on a portion of the N1, where motorists can expect some inconvenience over the next three years as additional lanes are built and bridges are repaired.
Meanwhile, the city council is looking for ways to reduce the impact of freight trucks, to minimise congestion and accidents, and to ensure the safe movement of dangerous goods.
The city council’s transport authority, Transport Cape Town (TCT), has released a draft strategy for public comment on how to deal with these issues.
The majority of freight in and out of Cape Town is transported along the N1, N2 and N7.
Up to 20 percent of the vehicles on the N1 are heavy vehicles.
“The N1 is undoubtedly one of the more important roads, particularly in this region, and improving travel times and easing congestion on this road remains an imperative,” said Western Cape Transport MEC Donald Grant.
Construction on the N1 will be carried out over a 9km stretch from Plattekloof Road to just beyond the Old Oak interchange until February 2019.
Approximately 120 000 vehicles travel on this stretch every day.
The city council’s mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, said an assessment of freight transport on the city’s roads found that the overloading of trucks had a significant impact on the road network, leading to roads deteriorating prematurely.
Freight transport was also exacerbating congestion on the city’s roads, he said.
“The draft strategy proposes certain interventions to reduce the impact of road-based freight on our urban environment.
“Two things are very clear: rail must be part of the plan and secondly, we will have to implement innovative solutions to reduce the overall cost of doing business in Cape Town.”
Herron said the strategy recognised the role the freight transport plays in the economy, but that the city council wanted to ensure that this mode of transport was safe and efficient, and that the impact on other road users was reduced.
The president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, Janine Myburgh, said while the chamber was not in favour of restricting the movement of heavy vehicles to off-peak hours only, there was a need to improve the flow of traffic on the city’s major roads.
A trip from the northern suburbs to the city centre that used to take only 45 minutes a few years ago, now took 90 minutes in peak traffic times.
“It eats into your working time. Business needs free flow to keep the economy running,” Myburgh said.
Between 2009 and 2013, up to 177 accidents involved freight vehicles.
The TCT said it wanted to reduce the number of accidents through a review of the existing road infrastructure and the location of truck stops and staging areas.
As part of plans to make the N1 safer, additional lanes will be built and the existing concrete median barrier will be extended to prevent head-on collisions.
Other improvements would include demolishing the Old Oak West Bridge and building a new one.
Other bridges on the freeway would also be repaired.
Myburgh said she did not believe improving capacity on the N1 would discourage people from using public transport.
“People who use public transport will still use it. But we need extra lanes, it’s almost become a hazard,” she said.
While motorists will have to contend with slower moving traffic in this area, Grant said every effort had been made to minimise the impact of construction.
Construction work has been restricted to outside the peak travel times of between 6am and 9am inbound, and 3pm and 7pm outbound.
“All efforts will be made to ensure minimal disruption to traffic during the construction phase of the project.
“However motorists must expect reduced lane widths and general speed limits in areas where works are taking place,” Grant said.
Construction would also not be carried out simultaneously on both sides of the carriageway, roadway, ramp nor both terminals of the same interchange.
The draft strategy on freight vehicles is available on the city council’s website, libraries and subcouncil offices until March 23.
Freight will always cause traffic issues, so if they can address this with a rail solution :thumleft: Is a container depot connected via rail transport out on the N7 or in Joostenberg vlakte not a viable option?
Adding more lanes is not the solution imho, it causes more traffic bottlenecks.
Anyways, it seems as we are in for a bumpy ride until the roadworks are finalised.
https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/n1-plan-to-ease-congestion-in-cape-town-1984440
Cape Town - The Western Cape government and the Cape Town city council have unveiled two major plans to ease congestion on the city’s roads and make them safer.
This includes construction on a project, worth R487 million, which has already begun on a portion of the N1, where motorists can expect some inconvenience over the next three years as additional lanes are built and bridges are repaired.
Meanwhile, the city council is looking for ways to reduce the impact of freight trucks, to minimise congestion and accidents, and to ensure the safe movement of dangerous goods.
The city council’s transport authority, Transport Cape Town (TCT), has released a draft strategy for public comment on how to deal with these issues.
The majority of freight in and out of Cape Town is transported along the N1, N2 and N7.
Up to 20 percent of the vehicles on the N1 are heavy vehicles.
“The N1 is undoubtedly one of the more important roads, particularly in this region, and improving travel times and easing congestion on this road remains an imperative,” said Western Cape Transport MEC Donald Grant.
Construction on the N1 will be carried out over a 9km stretch from Plattekloof Road to just beyond the Old Oak interchange until February 2019.
Approximately 120 000 vehicles travel on this stretch every day.
The city council’s mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, said an assessment of freight transport on the city’s roads found that the overloading of trucks had a significant impact on the road network, leading to roads deteriorating prematurely.
Freight transport was also exacerbating congestion on the city’s roads, he said.
“The draft strategy proposes certain interventions to reduce the impact of road-based freight on our urban environment.
“Two things are very clear: rail must be part of the plan and secondly, we will have to implement innovative solutions to reduce the overall cost of doing business in Cape Town.”
Herron said the strategy recognised the role the freight transport plays in the economy, but that the city council wanted to ensure that this mode of transport was safe and efficient, and that the impact on other road users was reduced.
The president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, Janine Myburgh, said while the chamber was not in favour of restricting the movement of heavy vehicles to off-peak hours only, there was a need to improve the flow of traffic on the city’s major roads.
A trip from the northern suburbs to the city centre that used to take only 45 minutes a few years ago, now took 90 minutes in peak traffic times.
“It eats into your working time. Business needs free flow to keep the economy running,” Myburgh said.
Between 2009 and 2013, up to 177 accidents involved freight vehicles.
The TCT said it wanted to reduce the number of accidents through a review of the existing road infrastructure and the location of truck stops and staging areas.
As part of plans to make the N1 safer, additional lanes will be built and the existing concrete median barrier will be extended to prevent head-on collisions.
Other improvements would include demolishing the Old Oak West Bridge and building a new one.
Other bridges on the freeway would also be repaired.
Myburgh said she did not believe improving capacity on the N1 would discourage people from using public transport.
“People who use public transport will still use it. But we need extra lanes, it’s almost become a hazard,” she said.
While motorists will have to contend with slower moving traffic in this area, Grant said every effort had been made to minimise the impact of construction.
Construction work has been restricted to outside the peak travel times of between 6am and 9am inbound, and 3pm and 7pm outbound.
“All efforts will be made to ensure minimal disruption to traffic during the construction phase of the project.
“However motorists must expect reduced lane widths and general speed limits in areas where works are taking place,” Grant said.
Construction would also not be carried out simultaneously on both sides of the carriageway, roadway, ramp nor both terminals of the same interchange.
The draft strategy on freight vehicles is available on the city council’s website, libraries and subcouncil offices until March 23.
