Cape Town - The R77-million upgrade for a section of Jip de Jager Drive, which is expected to alleviate traffic congestion and increase the road capacity, has been met with mixed reactions by road users.
The City’s Urban Mobility Directorate announced that the major upgrade would start with the dualling of Jip de Jager Drive in Bellville later this month, and the upgrade construction project was expected to last for nearly two years.
Tygerfalls resident Peter van der Merwe said the upgrade was much needed to address the issues of traffic congestion and its alleviation.
“The upgrade is welcomed and will do a lot for traffic congestion, especially since there has been so much more urban development around these areas.
It will probably be a thorn in the side for the amount of time set aside for it until its completion, but hopefully it won’t cause too much inconvenience,” said Van der Merwe.
Another road user, Elize Ricketts, who uses the major arterial to get to and from work, said she predicted traffic headaches during peak hours.
“This may cause some headaches for the period they will be working, especially during the peak hours. But it is an intersection that will benefit from it a lot, so we are hoping motorists will just exercise patience and enough caution during the upgrade,” said Ricketts.
Welgemoed ward councillor Ronel Viljoen said the upgrades have been in the pipeline for decades.
“The upgrade is much-needed as the amount of cars needs to be channelled. It’s unbelievable but the City had planned in the late 1960s already for the future upgrade. They just planned it years ago and made sure the road reserves were big enough if ever needed.
So it’s not that it was delayed, it was brilliant future planning,” said Viljoen.
The City has urged drivers to use alternative routes as far as possible as the project work would start on Monday.
“The City has budgeted approximately R77 million for this project to relieve traffic congestion along Jip de Jager Drive (M16), a primary arterial route connecting Durbanville, Welgemoed and Bellville with the N1 freeway.
Work is to commence on Monday and should be complete by December 2024, if all goes as planned,” the City said.
The project entails the dualling of Jip de Jager Drive from Kommissaris Street to Van Riebeeckshof Road, the construction of retaining walls for a section adjacent to Kommandeur Street, upgrade of existing signalised intersections along this stretch of Jip de Jager Drive, construction of walking and cycling lanes and the extension of a pedestrian culvert at Welgemoed Golf Course.
Cape Times