Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has unveiled a proposal to transform the city’s infamous unfinished highway bridges into a new link bridge, promenade and neighbourhood.

The city believes the proposed Foreshore Precinct Project (FPP) will finally complete the Western Cape capital’s legendary unfinished bridges, while also relieving congestion in the central business district (CBD).

The FPP should also see the creation of a new neighbourhood on the 15 ha of land around the existing unfinished highways, which has remained undeveloped for more than 50 years.

The City of Cape Town (CoCT) aims to tackle the project in two phases, with the existing freeways set to remain open during construction to avoid crippling the traffic flow into and from the CBD.

Phase 1 is set to start within the next five years.

“During the first phase of construction, an iconic new bridge will be built over Buitengracht, and the incoming elevated freeway will be widened, linking the inbound freeway directly to Helen Suzman Boulevard,” says Hill-Lewis.

“This will include a large new public park and public spaces below.

“This means everyone heading from the foreshore towards Green Point, Sea Point and beyond will effectively bypass the CBD altogether. This will make a big difference in alleviating congestion.”

In total, Phase 1 will include two additional inbound lanes on the freeways; a new link bridge from the inbound freeways to Helen Suzman Boulevard; a new elevated outbound ramp to connect Buitengracht over Dock road to the existing outbound freeway; a new canal linking Buitengracht Park to the V&A Canal; and a new park under the Buitengracht link bridge.

Within this phase, FW de Klerk Boulevard will also become a pedestrian-oriented street, with bus lanes to be implemented across Buitengracht street.

Three land parcels will also become available for a new residential area.

In the second phase, an outbound tunnel will be constructed, with the existing outbound elevated freeway being demolished.

This will enable the creation of a new promenade and Foreshore neighbourhood.

To build the tunnel south of Duncan road, the city is currently engaging State-owned port-and-rail operator Transnet about the relevant land owned by the port authority.

The tunnel will be constructed on vacant land between the Port and Customs House, from where it will continue next to Duncan road to link with the N1 and N2 freeways.

Phase 2 also includes a new outbound bridge that links Helen Suzman Boulevard with the outbound tunnel.

This phase also sees the demolition of the outbound elevated freeway viaduct and the creation of the promenade, parks and public spaces along the harbour edge.

Within this phase, all of the remaining land parcels become available for development.

Construction of this larger phase is set to run until 2040.

Projected FPP pricing is not yet known at this early stage of the process, says the mayor’s office.

Hill-Lewis says the FPP will help address some of Cape Town’s biggest congestion headaches, while also creating a connection point between the foreshore and Atlantic Seaboard.

He says the envisaged Foreshore neighbourhood will include affordable housing, walkable streets and a tree-lined promenade along the harbour’s edge all the way to Sea Point.

“Cape Town is one of the world’s great port cities, and everything about our identity is shaped by the sea. By removing the physical barriers between city and sea, we will reconnect with our maritime identity and heritage.”

“There is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go,” adds Hill-Lewis.

“We are releasing drawings to begin a process of public consultation.

“Then the final designs will be turned into detailed engineering designs, before procurement can begin and, eventually, construction.”

It is expected that the development of the bridges and tunnel will take the best part of the next decade to construct.

The Foreshore Freeway Scheme was conceived in the late 1960s. Only the initial phases of this multiphased project were ever constructed, however, with the concrete freeway ramps terminated mid-air.

The public-owned land around the scheme is currently constrained by the hard barrier of the port and the uncertainty over the future of the foreshore viaducts.

The land under and surrounding the viaducts is reserved for future completion of the freeway scheme, and will remain underutilised or vacant until the road scheme is amended to make land available for development.

Cape Town believes the Foreshore project will provide certainty over the future status of the Foreshore Freeway Scheme and release the sterilised land.