Specialist Investigations

Synopsis of Draft Conclusions

Design:

The route alignment area between the Main Road (M4) and Prince George Drive (M5) should be positioned as far north as possible to minimize the impact on the Lakeside wetlands and adjoining habitats.

The route alignment between the Strandfontein sewer ponds and Strandfontein Road (M17) should also be positioned as far north as possible to minimize the impact on important natural habitats to the south (towards the Pelikan Park area).

Consideration should be given to the installation of culverts (tunnels under the road) to promote the interaction of terrestrial animal populations on either side of the road and help reduce road casualties, e.g. the sandy coastal area between the National Route N7 and the Otto Du Plessis Road (M14) and the Wellington Road (R302) area.

In suitable areas, culverts of more than 500 millimetres in diameter, and as many as possible, could be positioned at appropriate intervals. The priority areas for culverts would be in the vicinity of wetlands and natural habitats, especially where the road bisects these areas. In particular, this would apply to the important leopard toad areas between the Main Road (M4) and Prince George Drive (M5), a two kilometre stretch from the Strandfontein sewer ponds eastwards to beyond Strandfontein Road (M17), and, to a lesser extent, between Prince George Drive (M5) and the Strandfontein sewer ponds. Sections of road raised off the ground on supports in the form of flyover bridges would also potentially allow for the movement of terrestrial animals.

No solid wall type barrier should be constructed alongside the road such as the one along the N2 between Cape Town and Khayelitsha. A solid concrete barrier would obviously restrict the movement of terrestrial animal life.

Road reserves should be wide enough to allow for a wildlife sanctuary area which will not be destroyed by future road widening projects. In an urban environment, road reserves can provide important sanctuary areas for wildlife and also serve as corridor areas for the movement of terrestrial animals linking them to more important conservation areas.

Construction:

Road construction can lead to the filling in or drainage of wetland sites and the general alteration of the water table and drainage patterns. As far as possible, seasonally inundated areas and more permanent wetland types should remain intact to accommodate the habitat requirements of the species dependant on these respective habitat types. For example, some frog species only breed in permanent water bodies whereas others are dependant on seasonal wetlands.

During the construction phase, the top soil should be stored and used, where necessary, for the rehabilitation of the road reserve after road construction.

Operation:

The road reserve must be suitably landscaped and rehabilitated (with indigenous vegetation) following on road construction, and any wetland areas should be retained and not filled in or drained. This will help encourage recolonization by reptiles and amphibians.

The overall impact of the proposed R300 alignment on aquatic ecosystems within the metropolitan area of Cape Town is considered to be Low to Moderate, and manageable using appropriate and sensitive mitigation measures.

At the south-western extremity of the route the alignment has the potential to impact on an area of road reserve that has become part of the Zandvlei ecosystem that, despite the very high level of urbanization and recreational use, is the healthiest of all the wetlands in the Cape Metropolitan Area. The fragility of the ecosystem services provided by the two environments (Westlake Wetland and the Bird Sanctuary) that will be impacted by the roadway is unknown, but may be such that any further loss may bring about degradation of the ecosystem as it is at present.

At the north-western extremity, the intersection of the route with the Blaauwbergsvlei has been realigned, as recommended, to 220 m south of the spring.

Between these two extremes, the identified affected sites can be easily accommodated, without ecosystem damage, using appropriate mitigation and/or minor re-alignments (e.g. Varkensvlei Forest Reserve). Many of the environments identified are highly degraded and, where-ever possible, construction of the road should incorporate lateral give backs to aquatic environments in terms of upgrading and protection.

The Archaeological Impact Assessment and Heritage Review has shown that the proposed N21 (R300) Cape Town Ring Road Toll Project will, with mitigation, have no significantly high negative impacts on archaeological and historical sites.

In general, the receiving environment is not considered to be archaeologically or historically sensitive, vulnerable or threatened.

The following recommendations are made.

• The proposed route (Sector 1, Section 2) should be searched for archaeological remains once the route has been identified and cleared of alien vegetation.
• The Environmental Control Officer (ECO) is to be briefed by a professional archaeologist what to look out for, particularly during vegetation clearing operations and preparation of the site for construction purposes. Levelling of dunes, for example, may expose buried archaeological and possibly palaeontological (fossil) sites.
• Contractors, staff and plant operators should be briefed what to look out for, particularly during vegetation clearing operations and earthworks.
• Heritage remains uncovered or disturbed during vegetation clearing and earthworks should not be disturbed until inspected by the ECO and verified by a professional archaeologist.
• Should any human remains be disturbed, exposed or uncovered during earthworks, these should immediately be reported to a professional archaeologist, or the South African Heritage Resources Agency.
• Burial remains should be treated sensitively at all times. Human remains should not be removed until inspected by a professional archaeologist.
• Future proposed borrow pits and quarry sites servicing Sector 1 should be inspected for archaeological and palaeontological remains and monitored during construction.
• Trenching and excavations should be inspected by a qualified palaeontologist at regular intervals.
• The construction EMP should detail reporting procedures to manage the discovery of any heritage artefacts during construction. This would include the recovery or exposure of human burials during construction activities, for example.
• The proposed route between the Vissershok Interchange and Bloubergsvlei Farm (Highway Section 8) should be searched for archaeological remains once the route has been cleared of alien vegetation.
• The proposed road (i.e. Highway Section 8) between Otto Du Plessis Drive and the R27 (West Coast Road) should be searched for archaeological remains once the route has been cleared of alien vegetation.
• A buffer of at least 200m should be left to the south of Bloubergsvlei Farm.
• The road corridor between the West Coast Road and Bloubergsvlei Farm should be shifted as far south of the farm as possible.

This summary outlines the key issues along the proposed alignment, starting in the south. All the highlighted areas will be extensively covered in the final report, and in many cases the proposed mitigation measures are already being accommodated, in the form of realignments. In some areas significant realignment is not possible and substantial in-kind mitigation has been proposed as the only suitable option. The final terms of these mitigations still need to be debated, but they would involve significant financial commitment to conserving similar threatened habitats and the permanent management of all transplanted material once it is relocated to the chosen transplant site.

• Between the Main Road at Lakeside and the Railway line the proposed alignment and interchange will have a significant negative impact on critical wetland habitat on the northern fringes of the Westlake Wetlands Conservation Area, which is managed by the Zandvlei Nature Reserve staff. A large and viable population of Passerina paludosa, a local endemic and a species listed in the Red Data Book as "Endangered", lies directly in the path of the proposed interchange, as do various wetlands. Mitigation involves the realignment of all roads to the north of this population, raising the road over the remaining wetland portions, and the removal of an existing artificial rubble dump within the Nature Reserve area.
This is the correct mitigation - keep the road as far to the north as possible, to reduce the amount of wetland and passerina paludosa affected by the road. I am even prepared to suffer the loss of my own habitat by having the road so close to my house. Of course, while this helps the plants in this area, it does not help the humans living in Norfolk Park and Lavender Hill, nor the leopard toads. This highlights a risk of the whole assessment - that individual things can be mitigated (in theory), but that the overall result is still a gross failure.
• East of the railway line, up to a point north of the Zandvlei Nature Conservation offices, the proposed alignment will have a significant negative impact on a strip of Cape Flats Dune Thicket. Proposed mitigation involves moving the road north to miss about half of this strip, and the transplanting of as much as possible of the remainder.
If it were so easy to transplant some of these endangered species they wouldn't be endangered now, would they? Why doesn't Cape Flats Dune Thicket occur in the location where they plan to transplant this thicket to? Could it be because it doesn't grow there? It is just a matter of time before someone suggests transplanting endangered species to a nursery or garden as a mitigation measure. We are still being robbed of our collective natural wealth.

Again, the overall impact is being neglected: what happens to the birds, reptiles, insects and mammals that live in the thicket? Will the move be able to accomodate them? Who is planning the coordination of the transplanting, alternative accommodation for the creatures etc etc? Does anybody even know what creatures will be affected?
• The next key area lies east of the Strandfontein Waste Water Treatment Works and west of Strandfontein Road in an area known as Pelican Park. The proposed alignment will have a significant negative impact on the natural vegetation in the area, which is a mosaic of wetland and dryland forms of Cape Flats Dune Thicket. Populations of at least three Red Data Book listed plant species could be impacted by the proposed alignment. Mitigation has already been suggested, and agreed to by the engineers, in the form of realignment to avoid the majority of the critical habitat in this section. The realignment involves a substantial curve to the north, and a slight shift north of the road as it crosses the pond area.
• From Pelican Park to Durbanville the road alignment impacts on no critical areas of natural vegetation.
• The proposed Wellington Road Interchange east of Durbanville supports West Coast Renosterveld vegetation, in both seasonally wet and well drained situations, and no less than eight Red Data Book listed plant species have been recorded in these areas of Very High conservation value. The proposed road will have a major negative impact on the natural vegetation in this area, and because realignment is not an option, other mitigation must be considered. If sufficient mitigation for this area is not possible, the "No Go" option would be invoked at this point.
This is the only place in the entire report where the possibility of a "no go" option is mentioned. No less than 8 endangered plants will be affected if the road goes ahead in this one location alone. Remember, these plants would not be so endangered if they were easy to transplant, slip and propagate. So, do we go ahead, and maybe lose one or two of the species (6 saved out of 8 doesn't sound too bad)?
• No significant areas of natural vegetation are impacted by the proposed road until the road crosses the R27, in the section east of Otto du Plessis Drive. The proposed road will have significant negative impacts on Dune Thicket and Strandveld vegetation in this area, but mitigation in the form of transplanting should reduce these impacts to acceptable levels.
When all the natural land is covered with road, managed verges, agricultural land and suburban housing, exactly where are we planning on transplanting this thicket to? In a few years time, when, as a result of the road new developments have sprung up in the remaining natural areas, will these same traumatised thickets be uprooted again to be planted somewhere else? What will we call it when Cape Flats Dune Thicket is planted in the Sandveld or Namaqualand?

Construction and maintenance of roads will result in loss of some biodiversity at the local level due to:

• Restriction of habitat
• Habitat fragmentation
• Increased mortality
• Invasion by exotics
• Road kills

Flying insects will be less affected as they are able to readily disperse elsewhere if and when suitable habitats are close by.

More than half the number of butterfly species are quite adapt at colonising altered habitats, such as suburban gardens; most of these are fairly common as a result.

Two of the listed butterflies, Kedestis lenis and K. barbarae bunta, have been singled out as potential victims of the planned road project. K. lenis is known to occur on the exact location where section 1 of the road is planned. The possibility of its re-introduction to sector 1, should it be absent after the completion of the construction phase, is mooted, but whether such a transfer will be successful cannot be guaranteed. However, it is also found south of section 2, in an area also shared by K. barbarae bunta.

From the entomologist's point of view, provided the migitation measures and recommendations made are implemented, there should not be any negative impact (but see the comments re K. lenis) likely to affect the decision to proceed with the project.

The proposed N21 (R300) Cape Town Ring Road traverses the major primary aquifer system comprising unconsolidated sands and the minor fractured and weathered aquifer system comprising rocks of the Malmesbury Group and Cape Granite Suite. In the vicinity of the Philippi Horticultural Area the primary aquifer is used extensively, but elsewhere groundwater abstraction is limited. Many of the wetlands on the Cape Flats are groundwater-fed systems.

Potential impacts from the proposed development could result from:

• Blasting
• Groundwater abstraction
• Modification to groundwater flow
• Accidental spills
• Sewage and waste generated from the toll plazas

Assessment of these impacts and possible mitigation measures suggests that all are of low significance, except at the Strandfontein Waste Water Treatment Works where installation of an agricultural drain alongside the road could have a high positive significance with respect to the state of Zeekoevlei.

Important mitigation measures include:

• Identification of boreholes likely to be impacted by blasting
• Controlled blasting to limit impacts
• Acceptable groundwater abstraction rates (if used)
• Ensuring adequate movement of surface and subsurface flow through the use of culverts at appropriate places
• Having emergency response plans in place in the event of accidental chemical spills.

Fifty-six mammal species possibly still occur in the general area traversed by the proposed road. Most of these species are widely distributed elsewhere, common or have adapted to urban and agricultural development and some have even benefited from such development.

Mammal species with highly specialized habitat requirements, restricted habitats or those that could not live in harmony with agricultural or urban development, such as the larger carnivores, have long ago disappeared from the Western Cape Province. The species remaining are generally small, well adapted to development and mobile and should temporarily disperse during the road building process and recolonize their former habitats after completion of the construction works.

At the same time it must be considered that these remaining mammal species at present occupy the last remnants of natural habitat still left in the area and in this respect the integrity of riverine fringes and continuous patches of natural vegetation serves an important function to ensure healthy populations. Fragmentation of their natural habitat is probably the single most important threat to these species and further fragmentation will affect the genetic viability of some populations. The provision of corridors by means of underpasses and sound management of the road verges are thus important mitigation measures.

The White-tailed mouse (Mystromys albicaudatus) and Brant's climbing mouse (Dendromus mesomelas) are considered to be vulnerable or rare due to the widespread destruction of lowland fynbos and renosterveld in the case of the former and a discontinuous distribution in the latter case. In both cases the proposed mitigation measures such as the provision of corridors by means of underpasses, sound road verge management and the prevention of pollution should prevent fatal negative impacts.

In the case of the African wild cat (Felis lybica), which is classified as vulnerable due to interbreeding with the domestic cat, the proposed road should not negatively affect the remaining population in the Cape Peninsula.

Although the Cape clawless otter (Aonyx capensis) is still widespread in the Western Cape, the population in the Cape Peninsula is probably small. The proposed mitigation measures to protect wetlands and river fringes and the provision of adequate corridors by means of underpasses should remove any threats posed by the proposed road. It is also of special importance in the case of the Cape clawless otter to introduce pollution prevention methods in the construction and operational phases of the project, as these animals are extremely sensitive to pollution.

The introduced group of Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious) at Rondevlei will not immediately be affected by the proposed road. Plans to introduce more hippo to correct problems with the social structure of the present group, will inevitably lead to a greater demand for feeding areas and possibly the incorporation of the Zeekoeivlei Nature Reserve and the Strandfontein Sewerage Works within the home ranges of the hippo. Provision will therefore have to be made in the design of the proposed road in this sector to allow free movement of these large herbivores between the various water bodies in this area.

From a mammal perspective, provided that the mitigation measures proposed are implemented, there should not be any negative impact likely to affect the decision to proceed with the project.

• The noise impact of the proposed N21 (R300) Cape Town Ring Toll Road was investigated for three time-scenarios. In terms of the regulations, any area exposed to traffic noise levels that exceed 65 dBA may be designated by the local authority as a controlled zone.
What happens when your house ends up in a controlled zone? How load is 65 dBA - can someone like me who is sensitive to noise tolerate it? If your house suddenly falls into a controlled zone, do you get compensated in any way?
• The estimated average controlled zone around each section of the road for each time-scenario is summarised in the figure below. There were a number of residences found to be within the estimated controlled zones for the operational year 2005. It was also found that an even greater number of residences would be affected by the noise levels around the road as the controlled zones widen in 2015 and 2025.
• A large part of the communities in the residential areas where no road presently exists, would be expected to react with sporadic to widespread complaints, due to the increased ambient noise levels.


I do not understand this graph - some explanation of it would be useful. What are the numbers along the x-axis? If they are sections of the road, then it is clear that the first sections and the last sections are not going to be very busy. Given that these sections are the most ecologically sensitive, I don't see why we need them (assuming my interpretation of the graph is correct).
• It can be concluded that without any mitigation measures the road will have a localised but significant negative effect on the noise levels of the affected areas.
• A number of noise mitigation measures can be applied, in order to maintain the noise levels below the legislated limit. The estimated heights of these barriers would vary between 1.8 m and 2.8 m, depending on the section.
This is at odds with the recommendation in the Amphibians & Reptiles Report and probably also would conflict with the free movement of mammals.
• It is recommended that the specific noise reduction requirements for sensitive receptors such as educational buildings be investigated during the final design of the road.
What about the effect on the breeding of birds? In the UK songbirds along roads have stopped breeding because the road noise interferes with their mating calls. Here we seem to be worrying about some legal limit for humans (without knowing whether it is a livable limit either). Also, just because my house is not a school does not mean that the noise won't affect me.
• Additional noise control measures could be applied in terms of:
  • Using a porous surface road. Traffic noise with porous asphalt can be reduced up to 5 dBA, when compared with conventional bituminous surfacing;
  • Reducing the speed limit along specific sections to 100 km/hr or less.
Yes, a speed limit will definitely help (not!). Have you seen how people race along the M3 in the Paradise Road area, where the speed limit is 60 km/hr because there are traffic lights and it is a built up area? When I try to drive at that speed (for the sake of the noise levels (and because it is the law), I end up being abused by other drivers for causing congestion). Even putting a permanent camera right in front of my house will only cause more noise as cars screech their brakes to cross the lines slowly, then accelerate away.
• The noise levels around the road should be monitored after the construction of each phase of the road. The measurement should be performed especially at locations where residential areas are very close to the road, such as in Durbanville, Montagu's Gift, Lakeside, etc.
• In the case where the measurements exceed the 65 dBA noise limit, a noise study should be conducted, in order to investigate and apply the appropriate noise control measures, so as to reduce the noise levels in that location.
Would it be possible to reduce the noise levels back to the levels they were at before the road is built? The reason I live where I do is specifically because I am sensitive to noise (especially white noise). The first thing I do when deciding to move house is check the noise levels in the new place.
• Lastly, as an additional noise control measure the noise insulation of new buildings should be considered, depending on their proximity to the road and the measured or calculated noise levels of the area.
What happens on a Sunday morning when you want to open your windows or sit in your garden to listen to the birds and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine?
• The area to be affected at any given time during construction could extend up to a 200m zone around the site in the absence of noise barriers.
• The noise control measures to be implemented during construction could be summarised as follows:
  • Minimisation of the noise emission levels of the utilised equipment;
  • Application of noise reduction work programmes, especially when situated close to residential areas;
  • Construction of noise barriers within the site and the use of moveable barriers at the high noise generation points.
• The contractor should generally ensure the implementations of noise reduction schemes at the construction site.
• Finally, the design and construction of the noise barriers should be executed properly so that they offer the desired noise reduction. For better efficiency, the noise barriers should be placed as close as possible to the noise source.

• In general, the construction of new roads will result in loss of biodiversity at both a local and regional level due to the restriction of movement between plant and animal populations, increased mortality, habitat fragmentation, edge effect, invasion by exotic species and increased human contact to previously inaccessible areas (Findlay & Bourdages, 2000, Clark & Karr 1979, Forbes 1982).
• Birds, however, have the ability to move relatively easily between habitats, or, to disperse to new habitats. This movement is not only due to disturbance, but also due to territoriality, dominance, juvenile dispersal and short and long distance migration.
• Most of the more than 225 species listed in this account have also adapted to some degree to human habitation, disturbance and landscape alteration. The Strandfontein Sewage Works serve as a case in point, where the sizable population of resident birds is due directly to the man made habitat that is enriched by anthropogenic effluent. These eutrophic systems are well known around the world, and closer at home, the extraordinary richness of bird life at the Paarl and Stellenbosch sewage works, serve as good examples. The majority of the species occurring in these habitats are also common species and are widely distributed.
But we are not talking about a sewage works - we are talking about a road. Exactly where has it been shown that a road is eutrophic (nourishing) to birds? This example here is completely irrelevant.
• Bird species with highly specialized habitat requirements, restricted habitats or those that could not survive in harmony with agricultural or urban development, such as the Flufftails and some raptors have long ago become very scarce in the Western Cape Province.
  Gee, I wonder why? I would think their scarcity would be all the more reason to preserve their habitats. Are we now saying that the road alignment should go through the habitats of those creatures that do not adapt well to urban development because they are few and far between in the Western Cape Metropole anyway? In fact, the Red Data book should provide a convenient list of creatures we can put out of their misery.
  The species remaining are generally well adapted to development and are mobile and should temporarily disperse during the road building process and recolonize their former habitats after completion of the construction works. The speed of re-introduction and the success of post construction habitat utilization will be a direct consequence of the environmental quality, logistics and sensitivity of the construction phase.
No matter how wonderfully well you conduct the construction phase, at the end of it you will still have a 4 - 6 lane highway where before we had a nature reserve.
• Globally, there is shift away from conservation management in formally conserved areas, to conservation in urban, peri-urban and rural landscapes. In addition to this new research focus, the function of roads in these man-altered landscapes are becoming increasingly important for the purposes of conservation management. Recent examples in Southern Africa (Whitmore et al. 2002) show the application of current best practices in this dynamic field. If the conservation management of this development is approached with sensitivity to the dynamics of road edge management for conservation and biodiversity enhancement, this development will become a benchmark model in this country.

This is misleading. There is no shift away from formally conserved areas. The shift towards conservation in urban, peri-urban and rural landscapes is only due to the too late realisation that conserving small pockets of nature in formal reserves is not enough to prevent the decline of genetic diversity. Scientist now advocate corridors of conserved areas linking the formal nature reserves to allow movement of creatures and plants between them.

In most places, the only way to create the corridors required is to use road verges, gardens and parks (where there are any), because there is no more natural land left to put a corridor in. However, here, we have a huge strip of natural land. First prize. Bingo. Don't turn it into a road so that you can do "best practice road verge management" on it - do that on some other road that already exists. Turn the road reserve into a nature reserve and prevent the mistake that other scientists have made in the past.

• The positive outcomes of proper road edge management are complex and numerous (Pfisten & Keller 1995). A few such outcomes are listed below:
  • Corridors: Well managed road edges serve as corridors that will allow the movement of plants and animals into areas that were previously inaccessible to them (Martin and Pepler 2002, Andrews 1990, Beier & Loe 1992, Jarman 1986).
  A poorly-managed road reserve without a road on it has been doing the same thing better. We have a corridor, we don't need a road on it.
  • Refugia: The occurrence of species that are not tolerant of human disturbance, indicates that some of these areas may be well managed (perhaps by default) and the example of the Greywing Francolin coveys in Sector 1 serves as an example here (Blair & Tate 1972, Laursen 1981).
  Your point? The occurrence of "refugia" in the road reserve is precisely because there is no road there yet, and as a result of it being a road reserve, no other development either. That is why we should turn it into a nature reserve now while we still can. Do you honestly think the francolin will stay on a piece of lawn on the verge of a six lane highway?
  • Plant and animal micro-reserves: There are numerous examples of road verges being the only extant habitat for rare and endangered species (Boucher 1981, Rebelo 1996, Whitmore et al. 2002). The example of some highly endangered Gladiolus species growing on road verges in the Paarl district (Goldblatt and Manning 1998) serves as an example here.
  Again misleading. Before the area was developed, the Gladiolus was not endangered and nobody gave it further thought. It only became rare after one part of its habitat became a wheat-field, and the other a road. The only bit left was on the verge of the road. This is not a case of a road verge clawing an endangered species back from extinction - it is more one of a road pushing a species to the brink.
  • Seed stores: Valuable seed stores are found on well managed road edges which serve as important feeding areas for many graniverous birds and can also be used to seed newly stabilized road edges.
  There is more food for all types of bird on the natural areas that will be destroyed by the road.
  • Educational functions: The proposed road would bypass at least 32 schools if completed, and could serve as an easily available open air classroom and laboratory (Stuart & Stuart 1994). It would make sense to use these public assets wisely, especially for communities and schools that are less affluent and with restricted access to transport.
  In what way is a six-lane highway suitable as a class-room? I would think there is more safety and educational opportunity in a natural area without the road (another reason to declare the road reserve a nature reserve).
In fairness, I think the points above all apply to the situation where a developed area or existing road is turned into a highway with a wide, managed verge. The points do not apply where virgin natural areas are being covered with a road for the first time.
• From a bird perspective, and provided that the mitigation measures proposed are implemented there should not be any negative impact likely to affect the decision to proceed with the project.

Identifying the locations of pedestrian bridges and/or crossings along the proposed alignment of the N21 (R300) Cape Town Ring Toll Road is informed by both engineering criteria and social considerations. Engineers today consult with communities to a greater extent than in the past when planning pedestrian facilities.

The need for various pedestrian facilities such as overhead pedestrian bridges and/or pedestrian crossings is much greater in certain communities along the proposed route than in others. This is chiefly due to the fact that communities with a lower standard of living (as defined by certain criteria such as income per capita, employment, dependency ratios, literacy rates, crime levels etc) have to rely on walking to access schools or places of employment or other facilities such as clinics, shops and churches. It is therefore in these communities that pedestrian traffic is at its highest.

Identification of desire lines has been the point of departure in determining the recommended sites for pedestrian facilities.

SECTOR 1:

Pedestrian facilities are recommended at the following locations:

• A pedestrian path/s alongside the Sand River Canal to facilitate continued access to the environmental education programmes offered by Sandvlei Nature Reserve. This recommendation assumes that:
  • Continued existence of Sandvlei education facility after the construction of the proposed freeway, and
  • Easy pedestrian access to nature reserves & environmental education for children from disadvantaged communities is regarded as valuable from a social perspective.
Fair assumptions. I would hope that nature reserves and children's needs are put before the profit motives of a company.
• An overhead pedestrian bridge is strongly recommended at the desire line indicated by the extension of Depsiton Road in Lavender Hill into the Capricorn Park area. Should the danger to high pedestrian traffic not be mitigated, high mortality and injury rates, especially to schoolchildren, are likely to occur.
• In the vicinity of the Rondevlei/Zeekoevlei Nature Reserves, two overpasses and a pedestrian bridge are recommended:
  • Firstly, on the existing north-south service road, which runs along the Zeekoevlei Canal. Provision for pedestrians using this access route should be made, such as sufficient height and width of the underpass/'subway'.
  • Ideally, a pedestrian bridge across the freeway should also be constructed approximately 300-400 metres to the east of the above-mentioned site. This would ensure that people walking through the reserve on environmental education camps or programmes or bird-watching would not have to utilize an underpass. This would be the preferred option.
  Don't you think people walking through a nature reserve or bird-watching would be absolutely flabberghasted at the sight of a six-lane highway in the middle of the reserve? What kind of reserve would it be if we let people build a road through it? Would anybody want to go on that walk at all once the road is built?
  • The second overpass is where the freeway crosses the existing Zeekoevlei Road which currently serves as the only access Road for the Cape Flats Wastewater Treatment Works. Provision for pedestrians could also be made along Zeekoevlei Road.

No specific recommendations with regard to pedestrian facilities are made for this section. Further investigation may be warranted in the Admiralty Hill area of the Strandfontein community, but pedestrian traffic demand is relatively low.

SECTOR 2:

The provincial and local government authorities have been intimately involved with pedestrian traffic safety and the provision of pedestrian bridges on the R300. Apart from the existing 4 pedestrian bridges (2 of which have been recently constructed), further investigation in the Kalkfontein area (southern perimeter) and west of Stock Road may be necessary.

SECTOR 3:

Due to the high reliance on vehicle as a means of transport and the relatively light pedestrian traffic, no specific recommendations with regard to pedestrian facilities are made for this section. Pedestrian traffic demand can be accommodated by making provision (pathways) along existing roads such as Wellington and Langeberg Roads.

SECTOR 5:

In view of the previous recommendations, this is the only site between Vanguard Drive and Prince George Drive where further investigation was considered necessary. Confirmation of pedestrian traffic demand here was deemed appropriate in view of the changed status of the former Lotus River High School to the north.

An overhead pedestrian bridge at the school site is recommended.

It is considered impractical to expect schoolchildren to deviate substantially from their route (desire line) by having to walk along pedestrian paths alongside the Big Lotus River Canal. Provision for pedestrians (paths) must be made along Strandfontein Road and (midblock signalized) pedestrian crossings provided at the Strandfontein Road interchange.