Fifty years of unfinished concrete

Construction began in the early nineteen seventies on a bridge intended to connect Cape Town's CBD with coastal areas, but the project was halted due to funding constraints and never completed.

Known as Solly's Folly

The unfinished highways are named after Solly Morris, the city engineer in the nineteen seventies when they were built and then scrapped midway. They have become an unlikely city icon.

Mayor unveils completion plan

On Friday, two October, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis unveiled the city's vision to finally complete the unfinished freeway with a new bridge and tunnel, plus fifteen hectares for housing and public space.

Bridge and tunnel design

A new bridge would link the inbound freeway directly to Helen Suzman Boulevard, bypassing Buitengracht Street below. The outbound freeway would be placed in an underground tunnel alongside Duncan Road.

End of unfinished business

Hill-Lewis described the plan as the end of fifty year old unfinished business, arguing the project could ease congestion while unlocking investment, jobs and more affordable homes for the city.

“The project will transform Cape Town's unfinished highways into a new link bridge and tunnel to relieve inner-city congestion and fix the connection between the foreshore and Atlantic Seaboard.”

Two phase delivery plan

Phase one involves a new bridge over Buitengracht Street and improvements to the inbound freeway. Phase two introduces an outbound link and underground tunnel, paving the way for removal of the existing elevated freeway.

Rethinking the city centre

Hill-Lewis said the vision is for the Foreshore to become a new neighbourhood where walking, cycling and public transport are central to how people move around, not simply a route through the city.

“This is not simply a big transport project. It is not just a property development plan. It is about rethinking what the centre of Cape Town can be.”

Funding model still unclear

Hill-Lewis indicated the city intends to shoulder the full cost of the first phase, while Transnet and the national government are expected to help finance the second. No final cost has been disclosed.

Herron demands answers

Good party secretary-general Brett Herron challenged the DA-led administration to spell out the cost, funding model, construction timeline, Transnet's position and how many affordable homes will be delivered.

Herron calls it hollow puffery

Without those answers, Herron described the announcement as hollow election-linked puffery. He argued the vision revives a decade-old proposal abandoned after the city's two thousand seventeen to two thousand eighteen process.

Tunnel cost risks unresolved

Herron warned the proposed tunnel could expose the city to significant cost overruns, pointing to Boston's Big Dig, where costs rose from two point eight billion dollars to fourteen point eight billion dollars.

“What will it cost to tunnel through that, Mr Hill-Lewis, and who carries the risk when it overruns?”