The City of Cape Town will commence with the rehabilitation of Giel Basson Drive on 31 March 2020. The City is investing R38 million into the project, where a key portion of Giel Basson Drive between the N1 and Voortrekker Road will be rehabilitated. Giel Basson Drive provides an important link to Voortrekker Road; the Elsies River industrial area and the Cape Town International Airport.
The rehabilitation of this portion of Giel Basson Drive is important as it is a key connection from the N1 and surrounding residential areas to the commercial node along Voortrekker Road and the Elsies River industrial area.
‘The City has prioritised the complete rehabilitation of this portion of Giel Basson Drive as we need to ensure that the commercial areas in Parow and Elsies River benefit from a quality road network, which can cope with the high traffic this district experiences,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, Alderman Felicity Purchase.
The rehabilitated part of the road will cover the section between the N1 off ramp and Voortrekker Road.
Construction is expected to take up to 11 months, if all goes as planned.
The budget for this project is approximately R38 million.
This project will also provide much needed jobs and skills development to members of the local community. Up to 3% of the project contract value will be spent on temporary work opportunities to residents from the area and a further 5% on attaining the services of local enterprises within these wards. Job seekers in Ward 26, 27 and 2 residing close to the works, are encouraged to register on the local sub council jobseekers database. Local businesses must register at the Sub-council in order for their enterprise to feature on the list of sub-contractors, which will be supplied to the main contractor.
One lane in each direction will be closed to give the contractor the requisite amount of room to work. Traffic will therefore be affected in both directions on Giel Basson Drive. Appropriate signage will be in place and road users are requested to adhere to the signage displayed over this period.
‘We thank residents for their cooperation and patience. Due to the expected congestion in the area, we recommend that residents and all road users consider making use of alternative routes’, said Alderman Purchase.
It is important to note that 24 hour lane closures are required for this project, therefore works cannot take place outside of peak traffic hours.
The City would like to advise commuters that there will be times when the lanes are closed with no work taking place. However this is a necessary part of the construction process as the new base needs to cure and dry before asphalt can be placed on top of it. Once the base has dried sufficiently on a section, the first asphalt layer is placed and can then be opened to traffic.