Cape Town's iconic unfinished freeway bridge could cost a whopping R1.8 billion to complete

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11-04-2022
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News 24
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Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says the earliest that the unfinished Foreshore freeway bridge in Cape Town can be completed is in the 2030/31 financial year. 

The predicted cost of completing it is R1.8 billion. 

The previous City of Cape Town administration, under then-mayor Patricia De Lille, proposed that it be developed into inner-city housing. 

The earliest that Cape Town's iconic unfinished Foreshore freeway bridge can be completed and opened is in the 2030/2031 City financial year.

This was revealed in a parliamentary answer Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula gave in response to a question from Al Jama-ah. 

Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Ebrahim Hendricks asked Mbalula why the bridge had remained unfinished for 40 years, and whether his department intended to complete it.

The minister responded that the Foreshore freeway is a City road and that the original plan was to implement it in phases.

"When the time came for building the missing portion of the Foreshore freeway, the predicted traffic for the commencement date of construction had not materialised. A decision was taken to postpone the completion of the Foreshore freeway until a later date when the traffic had increased to the levels that could justify the completion," he added.

Mbalula said that since that date, the emphasis changed from road-building to promoting public transport, and the completion of the freeway was not prioritised over and above public transport improvement.

"Since then, the City of Cape Town being able to afford the completion of the freeway has been a challenge. The current predicted cost of completing the Foreshore freeway is in the order of R1.808 billion. It is certainly the City's desire to complete the Foreshore freeway, but for this to happen...a partnership between all three spheres of government is required," he said.

Mbalula added that the anticipated duration of the completion of the project is nine years, including the review of the conceptual design, detailed design, construction tender documents preparation and construction.

"The earliest the Foreshore freeway could be completed and opened to the public would be in the 2030/2031 City financial year, provided budget is secured timeously," he said.

The unfinished highway has been an ongoing issue that has plagued the City of Cape Town.

In 2017 the City, under then mayor Patricia De Lille, requested proposals for the development of the freeway precinct – which was to complete unfinished bridges and build social housing in the inner city.

In 2018, municipal manager Lungelo Mbandazayo said he received legal advice and decided to cancel the request for proposals.

At the time, De Lille, who was embroiled in a battle with the DA, said even she was surprised by the decision.

Six bids were received at the time. 

Good party MP Brett Herron said the project was a casualty of "DA's stupidity and malice".

"The old DA guard hated the Foreshore Freeway Project because it made six hectares of prime Foreshore land available in return for mixed-used development, including affordable housing and a transport solution using an open and competitive process," he said. 

Herron, who was a mayco member for transport and urban development under De Lille, said that when they launched a Foreshore freeway project, they asked the private sector for proposals for the future of the precinct. 

"Ultimately, the freeways would have been completed, redirected, submerged or supplemented by public transport if one of the bids had been successful," he said.

Rob Quintas, mayco member for urban mobility, told News24 the unfinished freeway was something he discussed with his team. 

"After internal evaluations based on the need for congestion relief and traffic control, we presented to the mayor, who has given us the authority to continue with preliminary design to potentially finish the project in line with modern network management and the Cape Town skyline," he said.