|
Engineers and City planners are confident that the new Rea Vaya bus rapid system will not only alleviate traffic congestion, but also provide first-class transport for Joburg's daily commuters.
Engineers explain how the milling machine works
THE Joburg inner city's Rea Vaya bus rapid system infrastructure is taking shape and is about one month ahead of schedule.
With the best in technology, including a machine aptly called the "Ditch Witch" and a construction company working 24 hours a day, every day of the week, Joburgers will have its first taste of real public transport without any delays come May 2009.
"Rea Vaya's construction is on track. We are launching the first prototype BRT station in Joubert Park on 4 November," said Rehana Moosajee, member of the mayoral committee for transport in the City in a statement.
The City has engaged with about 35 000 users of inner city roads since the construction process was started a few months ago. But, because of the degree of disruption which will continue to be experienced throughout, more communication drives will be embarked on, confirms Claudia Mahlaule, the Johannesburg Development Agency's development manager for the area.
Key areas affected in the inner city are on Market and Commissioner streets between Miriam Makeba and Troye streets; on Troye and Twist streets between Commissioner and Noord streets, and on Smit and Wolmarans streets between Edith Cavell and Banket streets.
CBD route
The Rea Vaya BRT route through the inner city
Click here [PDF, 120kb] |
"Traffic disruptions, including temporary lane closures will occur and we are asking commuters for their patience and understanding. Two lanes will always be open on roads where construction is taking place in order to try to alleviate the congestion. However we advise road users to try to avoid these roads if possible," Moosajee added.
She said although the current traffic disruptions in the inner city are a challenge for road users, the end result will be worth it.
However, a site visit to the various construction points showed up the poor discipline of Joburg motorists, with taxis completely blocking interchanges after the robot has switched over, and cars parked in lanes reserved exclusively for traffic in Commissioner Street.
Alternative routes
To ease traffic flow, a number of alternative routes are suggested:
- For Wolmarans Street take either Pretoria Street going North or Leyds Ave, off Saratoga Ave, if you are travelling South.
- For Market and Commissioner Streets, take Fox, Marshall or Anderson Streets to the West, or President and Pritchard Streets to the East.
All the roads in the inner city along which the Rea Vaya buses will travel, will be completely resurfaced, even the lanes reserved for normal traffic, confirms project engineer João da Costa.
Edith Cavell Road in Hillbrow will be a pedestrian walk way and BRT bus lane
Because of the weight of the 12 ton articulated buses, the BRT lanes will also have more asphalt layers than normal roads, increasing the life span of tar roads in the inner city to about 15 years.
In addition, the construction company has inserted four sleeves (plastic tubing for cabling, pipes and other infrastructure) along the BRT routes, with one spare for future infrastructure upgrades. This means these roads need not be dug up if a Neotel or Telkom again need to install cabling.
In many instances, construction of roads could only be started after services infrastructure were moved or upgraded. "Inner city services are either very old or very shallow," confirmed Mahlaule. This means the service infrastructure in the inner city is also receiving a much needed overhaul for the first time in over 60 years.
By May next year, there will be 20 state-of-the art bus stations, 143 new buses, a single operator and a smart card system for commuters. Then Johannesburg's commuters will have a first taste of their own world-class public transport system, Moosajee said.
Related stories:
|
