While the year may be drawing to an end, plans for the major revamp of the Wynberg public transport interchange (PTI) is just getting started.
The City of Cape Town concept plan, available for public comment until Friday 9 December, was shared at a public information on Thursday 17 November at the Wittebome Civic Centre in Wynberg.
The concept design for the refurbished PTI proposes two minibus-taxi facilities located to the north and east of the Wynberg railway station.
The one will be a new facility with two levels located between Brisbane Road and Morom Road, bordering Wetton and Broad Roads. The ground level of the facility will be for minibus-taxis serving the Cape Town CBD and the upper level will be for minibus-taxis serving the metro-south east (Khayelitsha).
The second will be an upgraded single-level facility. located between Ottery Road and the railway line. This facility will be for minibus-taxis serving destinations in Grassy Park and the South.
The City of Cape Town describes the current PTI facility, situated in the vicinity of the Wynberg railway station, as rundown and stretched way beyond its capacity. At present, 48 000 commuters, 1 500 minibus-taxis and Golden Arrow buses make use of the PTI daily.
Due to these severe capacity constraints, minibus-taxis are obstructing walkways and causing serious traffic congestion in and around the PTI, especially at peak hours.
It is hoped that the new PTI, which will provide holding facilities, together with proposed one-way road conversions, and upgraded intersections, will assist with traffic flow.
Rob Quintas, the City’s Mayco Member for urban mobility, says the intention is that the new facilities will bring order and flow to minibus-taxi operations.
“Each operator from the West-North; West-South; and East, will have their own dedicated operations area, with their own facilities and dedicated entrance and exit routes. There will be sufficient space for ranking, drop-and-go, and parking between peaks.
“This over and above facilities to meet, rest, and so forth,” says Quintas.
Wally Cordier, project manager for SMEC, was on hand at the public meeting held last month to answer residents’ questions regarding to proposed upgrade. SMEC is the engineering company appointed by the City to oversee the design.
Cordier says when planning the design of the new two-level facility bordering Wetton and Broad roads, they looked at the current desired operations of the minibus-taxis serving the metro-south east, specifically the am-peaks.
“They should operate across Wetton Bridge on that ground floor, where you see all those taxis along the railway line currently, that is where they need to drop in the mornings, but that is too far for them to cross Wetton Bridge, so the metro-south east taxis currently come down Broad Road, they make a u-turn at the Brisbane Road intersection and they head out again.”
Cordier says that it is this behaviour which is causing the congestion problem.
“With our concept, we are removing the need for those taxis to cross Wetton Road or to just drop-and-go in the mornings, illegally. That’s why we allowed this first floor deck across the railway line for metro-south east. They will then come down Broad Road, up a ramp, drop their people and then they go down a ramp again and out along Broad Road.”
He says this will offer drivers a designated route, removing the need for them to make u-turns or to stop along Broad Road.
“We based our flow of traffic and our analysis on traffic data that we have. And based on that, the overall level of service and operations, not only here but for the whole Wynberg area, will improve,” says Cordier.
Emile Langenhoven, councillor for Ward 62, was also present at the public meeting. He says that so far, most of the comments from residents have been positive.
“There have been some negative commentary where they were asking to have all this money spent rather on cleaning the area and keeping it safe than building new construction. That’s not really viable because we have a massive taxi industry that is currently in the PTI and we have a massive demand for transport so that people can reach employment.”
Langenhoven says only time will tell whether the demand for taxis will increase or decrease.
“So we can’t just say, right, we are removing all the taxis. We’re getting rid of them. Where does that leave the rest of the population that can’t access employment?
“The demand will not remain the same for the next 10 years. That will increase, it will decrease. The PTI is there to house the taxis in a more formal way and closing certain areas that will make it safer for pedestrians to walk through the Wynberg PTI.”
He believes the new PTI and the MyCiTi services will lead to investment in Wynberg.
“This is going to be a vast improvement on the conditions in Wynberg and the current state of Wynberg. My mission is to also encourage investors to come in and start investing in Wynberg, there is a huge investment opportunity here,” says Langenhoven.
The City states, if all goes as planned, the detailed PTI design should be concluded by the end of next year with construction, once started, predicted to take three years.
