The City is studying the feasibility of a plan to improve public transport take-up and pedestrian-friendliness in inner city Joburg by creating new managed lanes and upgrading existing ones along a number of streets in the CBD.
On Albertina Sisulu StreetOn Albertina Sisulu Street, the feasibility study recommends that stopping areas for minibus taxis be formalised and intersections upgraded in order to discourage private vehicles and minibuses from infringing on the dedicated BRT lanes.Widened sidewalks, raised intersections, new public transport stopping areas, improved road markings and street signage, and other pedestrian-friendly features also form part of the plan, which seeks to promote a more liveable, sustainable and transport-efficient city.
The 2015 EcoMobility World Festival, successfully hosted in Sandton in October, “gave us a glimpse into the future,” Transport MMC Christine Walters said last week as the City released the plan for public comment.
“That is why the City has to move with urgency to address the acute congestion in our streets, as that poses a challenge to economic competitiveness and quality of life,” MMC Walters said.
“The most effective long-term solution is to cut the time commuters spend sitting in traffic by offering improved public transport, reducing the number of single-occupant vehicles, and introducing changed land-use planning.”
Daisy Dwango of the City’s Transport Department presented the plan at a public information session at the Metro Centre in Braamfontein on Thursday, 19 November.
The advantages of managed lanes, according to the department, include shorter travel times, improved on-time performance, better access to places of work, study and leisure, more efficient use of resources, and decreased greenhouse gas emissions.
SCOPE AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The feasibility study looked into:
Ways of stopping private vehicles from infringing on Rea Vaya’s bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes on Albertina Sisulu (formerly Market), Commissioner, Mooi and Troye streets.
The redesign of existing managed lanes on Miriam Makeba and Eloff streets.
The creation of new managed lanes on Jorissen, De Korte, Harrison, Rissik, Lilian Ngoyi (formerly Bree) and Rahima Moosa (formerly Jeppe) streets.
Besides widening sidewalks and installing other pedestrian-friendly features on all of these streets, the study’s recommendations include the following:
Albertina Sisulu, Commissioner, Mooi and Troye: formalising stopping areas for minibus taxis, and upgrading intersections.
Miriam Makeba: fully converting the section from Anderson to Albertina Sisulu to a BRT-only lane.
Eloff Street: converting fully to a two-way, public transport (buses and minibus taxis) street only.
Jorissen and De Korte streets: creating a managed lane for public transport only.
Harrison Street: converting the existing, northbound contraflow bus lane to a southbound to a managed lane for public transport only.
Rissik Street: creating a northbound managed lane for public transport from Anderson to De Korte.
Lilian Ngoyi and Rahima Moosa streets: formalising stopping areas for minibus taxis, upgrading intersections, relocating informal traders to new trading areas elsewhere, and beautifying the environment with landscaping, greening and street furniture.
DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT EXTENDED
Following Thursday’s public information session, the deadline for comments and objections has been extended to early 2016, to a date that has yet to be finalised.
Members of the public can e-mail their views to thelman@joburg.org.za, hand-deliver them to the Technical Coordination Department on the 12th Floor of the Metro Centre in Braamfontein, or post them to:
The Executive Director: Transport
PO Box 31923
Braamfontein 2000
Copies of documents related to the study, including preliminary drawings of each of the affected streets, are available from:
www.joburg.org.za
Technical Coordination Department, 12th Floor, Metro Centre, Braamfontein
The Hillbrow and Yeoville public libraries
The Braamfontein and Bertha Solomons recreational centres
The CJ Cronje Building, 80 Loveday Street