Cape Town: Construction of the first Sky Circle will commence its work this month. To enable this, it signalised the intersection at Govan Mbeki Road (M9) and Jan Smuts Drive (M17) in Lansdowne that will be converted into a temporary traffic circle on the weekend of March 15, 2025.
Reportedly, a huge crane will be installed in the middle of the traffic circle. The road users are advised to avoid the intersection over this weekend as there will be lane closures and traffic delays.
This freestanding elevated Sky Circle in Lansdowne forms a part of the roll-out of the MyCiTi bus service to connect Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha with Wynberg and Claremont as it is the first of its kind in South Africa.
Conversion of the signalised four-way intersection at Govan Mbeki Road (M9) and Jan Smuts Drive (M17) will be observed on the weekend of March 15, 2025. The Lane closures are planned and road users are advised to avoid the intersection from 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 15, 2025 until 5:00 pm on Sunday, March 16, 2025.
As per the sources, Detour signs will be placed at strategic intersections to guide motorists around the lane closures during this period. The temporary steel bridge will be installed over the north-bound carriage-way of Jan Smuts Drive to provide a safe passage to the travellers for construction workers. The height restriction is 4.3m and will be in place for the duration of the construction of the Sky Circle.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Urban Mobility – Councillor Rob Quintas said that the Sky Circle Project is part of the roll-out of the second phase of the MyCiTi bus service to connect commuters from Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and various other communities across the metro-south east with Claremont and Wynberg.
The project began in July 2022 and they were now beyond the halfway mark. The free-standing elevated circle will be the very first one in South Africa. It will demonstrate civil engineering at its best and they are so proud to see this happening right here in Cape Town.
According to Quintas, the metro-south east MyCiTi expansion is the biggest financial investment in public transport by any metro to date. The Sky Circle will be constructed on the traffic circle. Every time the road users and residents go around the traffic circle, and they will witness the progress of this engineering achievement.
“I urge all road users to approach the intersection with caution, to slow down and adhere to the warning signs and to always follow the flag personnel’s instructions,” said Rob Quintas.
He added further that the road users will need time to adapt in using the temporary traffic circle and as a result, there will be traffic delays. The inconvenience occurred suddenly, and he want to thank the public for their ongoing support and patience.
Road construction projects have always brought some level of disruption as they need to accommodate with traffic while they are busy in improving the infrastructure to keep Capetonians moving.