Brackenfell is one of the fastest growing suburbs in the City of Cape Town and while development and growth is welcomed, this should go hand-in-hand with the expansion of the roads network, which is not happening currently.
This is the view of City councillor Carin Brynard, a proportional representative for CapeExit.
Brynard is inundated with public complaints about traffic congestion on local roads.
One such prime example as referred to by Brynard, is the development on the Andrag land along Brackenfell Boulevard, an issue on which TygerBurger has reported extensively since 2017.
“At the time, when the first phase of this development took place, only a few cosmetic changes were made to the current road infrastructure, which did not amount to much in terms of congestion alleviation in both De Bron Road as well as Brackenfell Boulevard in the direction of the town centre and areas such as Protea Heights and surrounds,” she says.
Broadening of road, bridge
According to Brynard, broadening of both the N1 bridge and Brackenfell Boulevard is key to alleviating the pressure.
“Motorists suffer daily traffic congestion when crossing the Brackenfell Boulevard bridge which crosses the N1, and also the inadequate number of lanes thereafter up until Old Paarl Road and again in the opposite direction towards De Bron Road.”
She has been driving the issue for a number of years now, but says she has not received satisfactory assistance from either Sanral who is responsible for the bridge, or the City of Cape Town.
“Sanral says they do not have the necessary funding, as the City does not want to allow toll roads, and the City indicated that the future R300 extension is envisioned to alleviate pressure on the given roads,” she says.
Extension
Brynard is of the belief that the extension of the R300 in the direction of Durbanville will not alleviate congestion across the N1 bridge and vice versa.
“People crossing the bridge in the direction of Brackenfell central are leaving or returning to their homes in areas such as Arauna, Springbok Park, Eden Park, Morgenster, Morgenster Heights or Protea Heights,” she says.
“The extension of the R300 has been on the cards for more than two decades and still has not been built and I cannot see that this will be happening in the near future, thus the residents are and will stay, subjected to this extreme congestion.”
The capacity of surrounding Kraaifontein roads during peak hours is also being drawn into question.
“Vehicles are also backed up for long periods of time on the N1 from the Old Oak off-ramp towards Joostenberg Vlakte, including the off-ramps at both Okavango and Kraaifontein where vehicles are backed up in both directions.
“The City claims that they are looking at closing the on-and-off ramp at Brackenfell Boulevard from direction Paarl.
“But this I cannot agree with and I do not believe that the extension of the R300 will do much to relieve the congestion should the on-off ramp be closed.”
Not-withstanding the fact that Sanral is responsible for the broadening of the N1 cross-over bridges, Brynard is of the view that the City should take responsibility for the traffic congestion on its roads.
“Is it not the City’s traffic that is flowing across the bridges?
“Sanral is a national competency, but to my mind, local congestion should be addressed by the City and the Province, to find a solution to the problem, which will only increase due to further development of the area.”
New southbound connection
In response Marian Nieuwoudt, chair of Subcouncil 2 and ward councillor in Brackenfell, says the subcouncil has had several discussions with Sanral about the issue.
“Video footage from cameras on the N1 makes it clear that the most traffic pressure is caused by motorists who travel north on the N1 and then ‘turn around’ at Okavango to travel south again.
“The biggest need therefore is more connection southbound.
“The planned widening of the N1 will bring alleviation.
“The R300 will provide a new southbound connection to ease traffic on internal roads such as Brackenfell Boulevard.”
Nieuwoudt says the widening of the bridge does not provide an alternative connection.
“Financial legislation also makes it clear that the City is not able to spend money on land or infrastructure not belonging to it,” she says.
R300 extension finalised
According to the latest information from Sanral the concept planning of the R300 extension has been finalised.
“With the recent proclamation of the Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), the urgency of the R300 is being emphasised as needed infrastructure for economic growth,” says Nieuwoudt.
TygerBurger is awaiting additional commentary from the City of Cape Town over the debacle for next week’s edition, but is yet to hear anything from Sanral, who had by deadline not responded.
- Carin Brynard invites the public who believe it necessary to broaden both the road and Brackenfell and Kraaifontein bridges, to contact her on carin.brynard@capetown.gov.za
