R3bn boost for Cape Town's IRT project
The West Coast's commuter nightmare could be over by Christmas after the national government injected R3.35 billion into Cape Town's Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) system.
While only a limited IRT service will be ready in time for the World Cup in June, work will continue on the congested corridor between Blaauwberg and the city centre at full pace from July onwards.
It is estimated that this West Coast Starter Service - which does not include the leg between Blaauwberg and Atlantis - could be complete by December.
This route is plagued daily by traffic delays.
The IRT project was mired in controversy late last year with the disclosure of a bungle that saw the projected cost of the first phase balloon from R1.4bn to R3.5bn within a year. This led to the resignation of the executive director of transport, roads and stormwater, Eddie Chinnappen.
The full cost to roll out Phase 1A - which will include Atlantis in the north, Du Noon and Doornbach to the east, Montague Gardens and the rest of the Milnerton area - is now estimated at R4.3bn.
The national government confirmed its intention to pay R3.35bn towards the project in a letter from the Department of Transport on December 15. This was reiterated last week by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his Budget speech.
The amount is R1.9bn more than the national government had originally promised and will now cover most of the huge increase in the cost of the project since its inception.
The estimated funding shortfall has now dropped to R44 million with this cash injection.
A well-placed source said the city had been embarrassed by the huge increase in the estimated cost of the project.
However, since the current quote is roughly in line with the estimate for Joburg's IRT project, the national government was apparently comfortable with increasing the allocation for Cape Town, the source said.
The source also pointed out that the initial costs (of R1.4bn) had been revised partly because the city had sought to improve the quality of several aspects of the IRT, such as wheelchair friendly turnstiles at bus stations.
The city's executive director of transport, roads and major projects, Mike Marsden, said the additional funding would result in the entire rescheduling of the project.
Marsden told the Premier's Metro Co-ordinating Forum yesterday that, because of this new allocation of money from national government, the city would be able to start sooner and this would help lower the escalation costs.
And because work could be completed faster, the project could also become cheaper, Marsden said.
Under a revised model, it was hoped that the post-World Cup IRT projects could start soon after the event.
Once the West Coast Starter Service was completed, work would start on the bulk of Phase 1A - through to Atlantis - which was planned to be completed by September 2013.
Work will also start next year on various "feeder services": new buses which will feed into the city from suburbs like Hout Bay.
For the World Cup, the city has confirmed that construction of three key bus stations are nearing completion: at the airport, at the Civic Centre and at the Cape Town Stadium. Buses have been ordered and an operator has been chosen.
During the World Cup, designated buses will run between the airport and the city at a cost of R50 a ticket, and between the central city and the stadium for free on match days. Other new bus services will shuttle soccer fans from and back to 25 train stations which will become "park-and-ride" centres, as will UCT, Kronendal Primary in Hout Bay and Camps Bay High School.
In the central city, work has already begun on dedicated bus lanes around Hertzog Boulevard.
In the future, similar lanes will also be extended elsewhere in the metropolitan area.
Cape Argus
Posted at 03:20PM Feb 26, 2010 by Editor in Market |