Could an elevated railway be the solution to the unfinished bridge in the Foreshore?

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Gareth Ramsay, a development engineer.

Listen below:

Earlier this week, Councillor Roberto Quintas - Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility at the City of Cape Town - confirmed plans to relook at rebuilding the unfinished freeway on the Foreshore in the CBD on Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit.

Since the news, many have suggested how the freeway can be completed.

Ramsay is suggesting a proposal that envisions the unfinished bridge being used to incorporate an elevated railway, which would be integrated to the City's current train network.

The idea is to run the elevated train line through the Woodstock station because Woodstock "is the culmination of all the Metro lines throughout the City," explains Ramsay.

"The context behind this is that at the end of last year, the City voted to release a 4.5 hectare piece of land in Three Anchor Bay - with the idea of it being used for mixed use development... and in an interview with John Maytham and the Mayor [Geordin Hill-Lewis], the Mayor indicated that he expects to raise around R700 million to sell off this land - along with additional rates and taxes that would be generated by developing this piece of land... the Mayor also stated that this would be a great capital injection for the City and could find future infrastructure projects such as the completion of the Foreshore freeway as a road, which the City is currently conducting a feasibility study into."

- Gareth Ramsay, Development Engineer

But building more roads simply encourages more vehicle use, and in the short term it might solve the congestion problems in the City, but in the long term, it will be the same issue as there is currently, where people are stuck in traffic on Foreshore freeways.

"In the interview, he [Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis] also indicated that there is a political pushback regarding certain groups wanting the Three Anchor Bay site to be used solely for social housing, which would be great for the selected few who would benefit from social housing... but it would not address the greater issue of access to the City - and it does not make economic sense in terms of the potential loss of revenue for the City."

- Gareth Ramsay, Development Engineer

Considering the above, Ramsay says, he followed this criteria when coming up with the proposal:

1) Increasing affordable and efficient access to the City and Atlantic Seaboard, to allow the citizens of the City to get to opportunities and redress the injustices of the country's past.

2) To achieve a capital injection to fund these infrastructure projects and generate future revenue streams from rates and taxes.

3) To contribute to the reduction of the congestion and traffic we see in the City.

"I definitely do think both needs can be met and that's why I'm proposing this idea of a train station which would not be possible until the City has now released that piece of land, which makes this whole proposal viable," concludes Ramsay.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.