Extension of BRT system to link poor areas to city
ON an off-peak afternoon along Louis Botha Avenue, orange lights blink and construction vehicles kick up dust as men in fluorescent vests try to divert long queues of cars.
It is frustrating for now, but as Johannesburg brings the bus rapid transit (BRT) system to suburbia for the first time, residents in areas along this road can look forward to an increase in property values.
The R2.6-billion project will connect the inner city to Alexandra, Sandton and Houghton.
Mayor Parks Tau has made no bones about favouring the “Corridors of Freedom” project, realigning apartheid spatial planning and bringing poorer communities closer to economic opportunities.
Louis Botha Avenue currently has two lanes running in either direction from Alexan- dra in the north to Hillbrow on the edge of the CBD.
The city is trying to encourage higher population density in areas around Louis Botha Avenue, thereby reducing the costs of services and infrastructure.
“The BRT is the backbone around which we are trying to
We need a cheap, reliable way for people to get into town
redefine the city,” said Tau.
Manny Cabeleira, owner of the oldest bar in Johannesburg, the Radium Beerhall, seems unperturbed by the activity outside as he jokes with customers.
“It doesn’t matter if the larneys get their noses out of joint. We’ve got a lot of poor people here and in Alex who have long been suffering. We need a cheap, reliable way for people to get into town,” he said.
For him, the BRT will further encourage business at the B&B he runs next to the bar.
Tau said investors had shown a healthy interest and property values were expected to increase.
“It’s about building a different city and not continuing with apartheid spatial planning, where the poor lived far from the city and opportunities,” he said.
“This is a move into a rainbow nation where we all have equitable access to the city.”
He said the city had to do a lot of convincing to allay fears of RDP houses in Houghton, one of Joburg’s old money suburbs.
Construction of the stations is taking place simultaneously and contractors have been appointed for various legs of the route.