I got hold of a pdf with the preliminary design on the web. It has some nice details on the BRT for PTA. It seems like there will be two lines. One heding from the city to PTA North, Rosslyn, Shos and a second line heading out to Hatfield, Menlyn, Mams. I think this is great news! It is also planned to have dedicated cycling and pedestrian paths next to the BRT lane. Does anyone have more info on the exact routes and cycle paths? Here is an extract from the pdf: 5.2.7 Cycle Facilities Part of the design requirements of this project was to include facilities for pedestrians and cyclists all along the BRT route from Soshanguwe to the Pretoria CBD. However it was agreed during the course of the preliminary design process, that cycle facilities will be provided where possible at reasonable cost, i.e. the design should not include extremely expensive interventions (such as land acquisition or building new bridges) where it is not possible to provide the desired facilities within the existing constraints. In these cases, where the constraint is only found over a short distance, it could either be accepted as is or if it is constrained over an extended section, alternative routes would be recommended. The reason for this approach is that it is deemed more important to develop a cycle network that leads cyclists to the nearest BRT station than necessarily provide a cycle lane in parallel to the BRT to allow cyclists to cycle to town instead of take the BRT to town, a distance beyond the normal typical commuter cycle distance. From the Standard Lane Widths for the City of Tshwane BRT Scheme (Table 5.3), the minimum width for a shared pedestrian and two-way cycle lane is 3.5m. It was assumed that this width allocates 2m for cyclists, and 1.5m for pedestrians, and that it would be segregated by a white line and appropriate signage. This width does not include the preferred minimum 0.6m buffer between the path and the road, which is provided where possible. There may be localised instances where the full 3.5m may have to be narrowed for a short distance to avoid having to relocate services or remove trees, but this should be the exception rather than the rule. On sections where more space is available, 2.5m has been allowed for the cycle path and 2m for the pedestrian way, excluding the minimum preferred buffer of 0.6m. Where side drains are required, the buffer width is increased to up to 3m. On sections where there is less than 3.5m available, sidewalks are provided but no cycle facilities, and alternative cycle routes are recommended. Figure 5.6A: Potential Cycle Facilities 5-16 From km 4.450 (intersection of Hebron Road and Rosslyn Road) to km 16.200 (intersection of Doreen Avenue and Rachel de Beer Street) a 4.5m wide shared but segregated pedestrian and two-way cycle lane is proposed on one side of the road. From this point until the Pretoria CBD there is less width available for the majority of the route on either side of the road to accommodate the required minimum width of 3.5m. Cadastral boundaries, drainage facilities, trees, light poles, bridge structures and other sidewalk furniture restricts the available width. It appears feasible to provide the minimum of 3.5m shared pedestrian and cycle facility on Rachel De Beer Road, from Doreen to Narda Street, and in some sections the facility could potentially be wider. Sections where it is not possible to fit the minimum 3.5m facility include: •the narrow Rachel de Beer section from Daan de Wet Nel Street to the Rainbow Junction development, •the section through the mountain south of Lavender Road •The two railway crossings south of station B23 •the section through the mountain between the proposed stations B24 and B25, •other sections where cadastral boundaries limit the available width over short section. It is proposed that alternative cycle routes such as those indicated in Figure 5.6A be considered. A grade separated crossing at Wonderboom Station can link the cycle way to the station and via Lavender Road, to Zambezi Road. Voortrekker / HF Verwoerd Road can also be considered as an alternative. It may be possible to provide a 3.5m shared pedestrian and cycle way on the western side of Mansfield Road, at the section near Stations B21 and B23 but this can only be confirmed during detail design, when the cross sections and detail access configurations are considered. Similarly it may be feasible to provide a 3.5 - 4.5m shared pedestrian and cycle facility over the majority of the section in the CBD, on the western side of Paul Kruger, but may require relocation of some services to achieve clear widths.
