The City’s Urban Mobility Directorate has reached a key milestone with the casting of the first red bus lanes along Govan Mbeki Road, in the vicinity of the Sky Circle project in Lansdowne. All is on track to complete the project by December 2026 and to have the first MyCiTi buses operating along this route in the second half of 2027.

By the second half of next year, if all goes as planned, commuters from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha will be able to board the MyCiTi buses that will operate between their neighbourhoods and Wynberg and Claremont.

One of the main trunk routes will operate along Govan Mbeki Road, where the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate has now started with the casting of the reinforced concrete for the red lanes that are for the exclusive use of the MyCiTi buses.

‘I visited Govan Mbeki Road earlier today, where we have started casting 3 600m³ of the concrete that gets its distinctive colour from a red oxide, together with approximately 245 tonnes of reinforcing steel. This is a remarkable moment, because when you see the red lanes, then you know we are on track, and that the buses will be operating here soon. It shows progress, and it is a very real signal to residents and commuters that we are delivering on our promise to roll-out a scheduled, reliable, and affordable public transport service to commuters from the metro-south east,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas.

The casting of the bus lanes along Govan Mbeki Road is being done in phases, until the end of this year. The concrete is spread and compacted with manual labour once the ready-mix concrete has been delivered on site. Mobile concrete pumps will get the concrete to the difficult to reach areas, but most of the work will be done by hand, and once casted, it typically takes about 28 days for the concrete to cure or reach its optimal strength.

‘The design life of the red bus lanes is 50 years. The use of the reinforced concrete reduces the need for ongoing maintenance. This is a long-term investment in good quality bus lanes that will carry a high volume of traffic. Given that we will not need to do any serious maintenance work for another 50 years, it also means there won’t be disruptions to the service in the near future,’ said Councillor Quintas.

Sky Circle

The construction of the freestanding elevated traffic circle, the first of its kind in South Africa, at the intersection of Govan Mbeki Road (M9) and Jan Smuts Drive (M17) in Lansdowne, is progressing well.

The project team converted the signalised intersection of Govan Mbeki Road (M9) and Jan Smuts Drive (M17) into a traffic circle in March 2025 where the Sky Circle is currently being constructed. Once the circle has been casted and the concrete has reached its design strength, the temporary traffic circle on ground level will be converted back to a four-way signalised intersection for all traffic, apart from the MyCiTi buses that will be using the elevated circle.

• The elevated circle will be about 6,2m above the ground, and for the exclusive use of the MyCiTi buses
• The proposed Hanover Park closed median station is the closest MyCiTi station to this intersection and will serve commuters along the trunk route to operate along Govan Mbeki Road. The station will be built at a later stage, closer to the implementation date of the service.

‘By separating the MyCiTi buses from general traffic, the commuters will not be delayed by the traffic or congestion at the ground level of the intersection. This design will benefit MyCiTi commuters as it will reduce the travelling time to their destinations,’ said Councillor Quintas.

Other road uses will also benefit from significant upgrades at the intersection at Govan Mbeki Road and Jan Smuts Drive to improve traffic flow, including:

• the reconfiguration of the intersection;
• dedicated turning lanes;
• improved traffic signals; and
• improved signalisation or sequencing
• walking and cycling lanes

The project in Lansdowne commenced in July 2022 and the anticipated completion date is December 2026.

‘I once again want to thank residents and commuters for their ongoing support and patience. Road construction projects always bring some level of inconvenience as we need to accommodate traffic while we are busy improving the infrastructure to keep Capetonians moving. This is a massive investment in the future mobility of our residents, and will bring huge benefits to all of us living and working in Cape Town,’ said Councillor Quintas.