The section of Kloof Road between Kloof Nek Road and Round House Road in Cape Town is set to reopen in seven weeks, more than three years after it was badly damaged by a Level-9 storm.
According to the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate, the project has reached the final rehabilitation phase, and if all goes to plan, the road will reopen by mid-December.
To date, the majority of work to restore the two failed embankments has been completed in the ecologically sensitive environment.
The particular section has been closed to traffic since the long weekend of 24 September 2023 after the embankment supporting Kloof Road was destabilised, making it unsafe to carry a load.
During the 2024 winter season, additional heavy rainfall caused further damage to the road, leading to another slip failure along the route.
When the initial damage occurred, the city planned to have the road repaired within 24 months, but the additional rain damage delayed its plans.
“Kloof Road has been closed for over three years now, and I am happy to announce that within the next seven weeks, residents and visitors will be able to use this road once again,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas.
While visiting the site with local Ward Councillor Nicola Jowell, Quintas confirmed that the work is on track to open the road to the public by its target date of mid-December.
“I want to thank the local community and commuters for their patience and support during this time. It has been a long wait, but the end is in sight,” he added.
Kloof Road falls within Table Mountain National Park and forms part of an important corridor linking the City Bowl to the Atlantic Seaboard suburbs of Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, and Sea Point.
Important ecological considerations
Because Kloof Road falls within such a critical ecological area, the City has had to take into account several considerations while planning its rehabilitation.
“Early this year, we undertook a search and rescue exercise to locate and exhume indigenous plant species and took a variety of clippings,” explained Quintas.
“These were looked after at a nursery, and I am very pleased to say that the transplanting of the clippings on the reconstructed slopes has started.”
Road work completed by the contractor to date includes the construction of soil nails and gabion walls at the base of both slope failures and the reinstatement of the slopes up to road level.
According to the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate, the gabions will serve as a retaining structure to support the slopes and the road above.
Other completed work comprises new stormwater infrastructure, which includes upgraded stormwater culverts, as well as the rehabilitation of a majority of the road’s cobble channels.
“I want to remind the public that we are only repairing what has been damaged, and cannot add improvements such as walking and cycling lanes,” explained Quintas.
“The road remains closed while we are finalising the remainder of the work. I want to thank the project team for their efforts in ensuring we keep to the timelines to keep Capetonians moving.”
Photos of the damage on Kloof Road
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