Cape Town: The Urban Mobility Directorate of the City of Cape Town has reached a key milestone with the casting of the first red bus lanes along Govan Mbeki Road, in the vicinity of the Sky Circle project in Lansdowne. All is on track to complete the project by December 2026 and to have the first MyCiTi buses operating along this route in the second half of year 2027.
If all goes as planned, by the second half of next year, commuters from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha will be able to board the MyCiTi buses that will operate between their neighbourhoods and Wynberg and Claremont. It is one of the main trunk routes which will operate along Govan Mbeki Road, where the Urban Mobility Directorate of the City of Cape Town has now started with the casting of the reinforced concrete for the red lanes that are for the exclusive use of the MyCiTi buses.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Urban Mobility – Councillor Rob Quinats said that he visited Govan Mbeki Road, where they have started casting 3600m³ of the concrete that gets its distinctive colour from a red oxide, together with approximately 245 tonnes of reinforcing steel.
This is a remarkable moment for them, because when they see the red lanes, then they know that they are on track, and that the buses will be operating here soon. It shows progress, and it is a very real signal to residents and commuters that they are delivering on the promise to roll-out a scheduled, reliable, and affordable public transport service to commuters from the metro-southeast.
Casting of the bus lanes along Govan Mbeki Road is being done in phases, until the end of this year. The concrete is spread and compacted with manual labour once the ready-mix concrete has been delivered on site. Mobile concrete pumps will get the concrete to the difficult to reach areas, but most of the work will be done by hand. Once casted, it typically takes about 28 days for the concrete to cure or reach its optimal strength.
Cllr Quintas said that the design life of the red bus lanes is 50 years. The use of the reinforced concrete reduces the need for ongoing maintenance. This is a long-term investment in good quality bus lanes that will carry a high volume of traffic. Given that they will not need to do any serious maintenance work for another 50 years, it also means there won’t be disruptions to the service in the near future.