Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has unveiled a plan to demolish the city’s 50-year-old unfinished Foreshore highways. The project will replace the suspended concrete structures with a new bridge, an outbound tunnel, affordable housing, public spaces, and a tree-lined harbor promenade to relieve CBD traffic congestion.
Cape Town Plans to Demolish Unfinished Foreshore Highways
For more than half a century, unfinished concrete highways have hung suspended above Cape Town’s Foreshore as concrete reminders of an ambitious transport project abandoned before completion. Conceived in the late 1960s to connect the Eastern and Western Boulevards and ease traffic moving into the Cape Town central business district, construction began in the early 1970s. Financial constraints halted the work in 1977, leaving abrupt freeway ends looming over the district.
City manager Lungelo Mbandazayo noted that the structures had become an unfinished chapter in local history. Officials began studying the future of the precinct roughly two years ago, focusing on infrastructure demands, resident needs, and how the space could be redeveloped.
Engineers Plan Bridge and Tunnel to Alleviate CBD Congestion
Mayor Hill-Lewis formally announced the comprehensive Foreshore precinct vision, flanked by Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, and Transnet CEO Michelle Phillips. The multi-phase undertaking will transform the abandoned freeways into a new link bridge and tunnel designed to fix the transit connection between the Foreshore and the Atlantic Seaboard.
Motorists traveling from the Foreshore toward Green Point, Sea Point, and beyond will effectively bypass the CBD entirely, relieving inner-city congestion. The city proposes executing construction in two distinct phases to maintain existing traffic flow and avoid crippling disruptions. During the initial phase, construction crews will build a new bridge over Buitengracht Road and widen the inbound elevated freeway to connect inbound traffic directly to Helen Suzman Boulevard. This phase also incorporates a large new public park and public spaces beneath the infrastructure.
In the second phase, engineers will construct an outbound underground tunnel while demolishing the existing outbound elevated freeway.
City Aims to Clear 15 Hectares for a New Neighbourhood
The municipality aims to unlock 15 hectares of precious inner-city land that has remained dormant for more than 50 years, creating space for affordable housing, businesses, and recreation. Demolishing the old outbound elevated structures will clear away physical barriers that currently separate the central business district from the harbor.
Hill-Lewis emphasized that reconnecting the city with its coastline pays tribute to Cape Town’s identity as one of the world’s great port cities.
Municipality Releases Drawings to Begin Public Participation Process
The municipality is officially releasing initial drawings to initiate a public participation process in the coming months, while city officials have worked on detailed planning over the last few years. Once public consultation concludes, planners will translate final concepts into detailed engineering designs, followed by formal procurement and actual construction.
Hill-Lewis acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go before concrete meets the ground. Construction on the initial phase is earmarked for the next council term.