Nearly three years on, repairs to Kloof Road are now in motion, with all requirements met for an ecologically sensitive environment.
The section between Kloof Nek Road and Round House Road was damaged during a Level-9 storm in September 2023 and has been closed to the public since then.
Further damage occurred in 2024 when heavy rainfall caused an additional slip failure during the winter season.
READ ALSO: Road damage in Kloof Road, Cape Town will take at least 12 months to complete
Kloof Road is one of the access routes that links the City Bowl with the Atlantic Seaboard suburbs of Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay and Sea Point.
The road falls within the Table Mountain National Park and the two failed embankments are located approximately 150 to 200 meters west of the corner of Kloof Road and Camps Bay Drive.
Mayco member for urban mobility, Rob Quintas, said if all goes as planned, the project should be complete in December this year.
Some frustrated residents have taken to social media, saying the project has dragged on for far too long.
One resident said: “How did it take three years to get this fixed yet the N2 was washed away just passed Grabouw in that same storm and was repaired in less than 7 months?”
Another called for sewer systems and potholes in townships and suburban roads to be fixed.
While another said: “What about fixing the entire storm water system along that road? The drainage system has not been maintained for decades. The next storm will cause another section to fail.”
Quintas said all efforts will be made to keep to the timeline; however, progress will be impacted by inclement weather given the difficult terrain where the work is taking place.
He explained some of the challenges regarding the project.
“The City will only repair what has been damaged, and cannot add improvements such as walking and cycling lanes. Various services are located along Kloof Road such as fibre optic, water mains, and so forth. These will have to be relocated or worked around and maintained while the repair work is ongoing.
“Access to the site is challenging given that the construction work will have to happen from the bottom of the Kloof upward towards the road, and there is no access road to the bottom of the Kloof.”
Work done to date include
The contractor has also prepared and received approval for method statements on what measures they are implementing to minimise and limit the impact on the sensitive natural environment.
The collapsed trees have been removed so that the repair work to the road itself can proceed.
The contractor is currently busy with preparation work for the installation of gabion retaining walls; and next, the search and rescue operation for indigenous vegetation along with the gabion retaining wall construction will commence.
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