January 18, 2006
By Lucille Davie
A SERIES of public meetings will be held towards the end of January in Sandton, Centurion and Tshwane to discuss five variants of the Gautrain route. It is hoped that this will be the final round of public meetings.
In addition, the draft Comparative Assessment Reports will be available for review and comment from Friday, 27 January until Monday, 27 February.
The controversial 80km Gautrain, with a parliamentary-approved budget of R20-billion, will run between Johannesburg, Tshwane and Johannesburg International Airport (JIA). Criticisms have been raised concerning the cost, originally set at R7-billion, and the need for the train to cater for commuters travelling in the broader Johannesburg area, badly in need of improved Metrorail services.
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa confidently announced in December that the first sod would be turned in January, when the financial details would be finalised.
Some 1 056 properties along the Gautrain's route will either be fully or partially affected by the rail link’s construction.
Up for discussion at the January meetings are:
- A tunnelled alignment between Mushroom Farm Park in Sandton and the M1 that mostly runs beneath Katherine Drive instead of beneath the suburb of Strathavon;
- A lower alignment from the Marlboro tunnel portal across the Jukskei River valley beneath the N3 highway;
- A raised vertical alignment between the N1/John Vorster interchange, to the Jean Avenue interchange with the Ben Schoeman Highway in Centurion;
- A surface alignment to the east of Salvokop, instead of tunnelled beneath it, on the approach to Pretoria Station; and
- An alignment that follows the existing South African Rail Commuter Corporation rail reserve all the way between Pretoria Station and Hatfield Station.
In addition, the Gauteng department of public transport, roads and works has proposed a raised alignment over the R21/R24 interchange between Rhodesfield Station and JIA station.
The public meetings are to be held at the following venues at 6.30pm:
- Lyttleton Old Town Hall in Centurion, on Tuesday, 31 January;
- Pretoria Town Hall on Wednesday, 1 February; and
- Parkmore Scout Headquarters Hall in Sandton, on Monday, 30 January.
The draft report on the Rhodesfield-JIA route variant will be made available for public comment from Friday, 20 January until 19 February, at the Rhodesfield High School in Ventura Street, Rhodesfield and at the Kempton Park Public Library. A public meeting on this route variant was held in Rhodesfield on 28 November last year.
Public consultation for the minor route amendments is now complete and investigations are focused on mitigation of any new issues identified. So far, more than 40 focus group and public meetings have been held, and all the issues raised at these meetings have been documented and responses forwarded to the preferred bidder, the Bombela Consortium, and the provincial authorities.
The process so far has included an Environmental Management Plan, drawn up with input from the public.
Draft Comparative Assessment Reports are available for comment until 27 February at the Johannesburg Reference Library; the Gautrain Project Office; the Sandown Public Library; the Linbro Park Public Library; the Lyttleton Public Library in Centurion; the Centurion Town Council; the City of Tshwane Customer Care Centre; the Sammy Marks Public Library in Pretoria; and the Brooklyn Public Library in Pretoria.
Several route amendments involving demolitions have been proposed in the Initial Works Environmental Management Plan, at present being considered by the Gauteng department of agriculture, conservation and environment, after public comment was received.
These route amendments are to take place at five sites: Park Station, Rosebank Station, Sandton Station, the Marlboro Tunnel Portal, and the creation of the Gautrain depot.
All the details are available on the Gautrain environment website. A decision on the route amendments will be made in early February.
The national Department of Transport is making R10-billion available from its infrastructure budget over the next three years; the other R10-billion will be raised through loans and the private sector.
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