Cape Town’s famous unfinished bridge – Here are the plans for it

Many motorists who have driven into the City of Cape Town before would have witnessed the famous incomplete Foreshore Freeway Bridge.

Built in the early ‘70s, the semi-built structure has fascinated the public for half a century, being the site of Hollywood blockbusters and high-fashion photoshoots owing to its scenic location and post-apocalyptic look.

At the time of its construction, when engineers designed the freeways and embarked on the ambitious roads project, the traffic flowing into and out of the city was not nearly on the level that it experiences today.

The project was subsequently deferred, mainly due to a lack of funds and the fact that the volume of traffic was too low to warrant any further investment, and it has remained generally untouched since.

There have been initiatives attempting to complete the bridge, or at least find another purpose for it.

The Gardens Centre writes that, in 2014, students from the University of Cape Town were urged to come up with ideas on how the bridge could be turned into something more useful.

Suggestions included a skate park, a roller coaster park, an arcade, and some sort of waterway, but, none came to fruition.

Fast forward to 2018, plans were allegedly drawn up to finish building the carriageway, but these quietly fell through.

With Cape Town set to become the most populous metro in the country over the coming years, it has been preparing its transport networks to accommodate the influx of citizens it expects to receive.

TopAuto touched base with the metro to find out whether the Foreshore Freeway Bridge will be part of these plans.

Foreshore Freeway folly

When queried on the supposed plans for the unfinished bridge that were developed in 2018, Rob Quintas, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, said that there was something in the works at the time, but that it was a concept only that wasn’t finalised for further action or implementation.

He subsequently confirmed that the bridge forms part of ongoing studies into reshaping the city’s asphalt arteries.

“The City is busy with a Foreshore Freeway Precinct scoping study,” Quintas told TopAuto.

“A key priority of the scoping study is to develop an integrated transport and land use solution.”

A transport analysis conducted as part of the scoping study revealed that the current freeway viaducts carry up to 7,000 vehicles per hour in both directions in the morning and afternoon peak periods.

“The intention is to develop an optimum transport and land use solution to facilitate long-term investment and economic growth, while maximising the precinct’s inherit public amenity and development potential,” said Quintas.

“The study is currently underway and has not been concluded.”

Similar to when the bridge was incepted in excess of five decades ago, funding remains a concern.

“Nearly 60 years later funding remains a challenge as we do not want to burden the City and our ratepayers with additional financial responsibilities,” concluded Quintas.