Car free Sandton - October 2015

[Iwan Kemp]

  Fair enough.

 

Slightly off-topic...

 

Was listening to some of your tunes today. Kick-ass. 

[Heel Drop]

the circus is bigger and the clowns more and much funnier then they use to be its almost close to insanity 

[Uni]

 

Edit: it's basically only West st. from Freedman to Rivonia.

 

Yup they originally wanted to close off the entire CBD then realised how stupid that would be.

So by closing off West Street - all they're doing is pushing more cars into a smaller area.

There are talks of allowing bikes onto the gautrain ..but still under duscussion.

 

It's a good idea but not well thought out. The cycle /walkway lanes from Alex to Sandton are great, but there's so much foot traffic, i have yet to see a bike manage to ride there.

 

If they resort to a levy to drive into the sandton CBD, and jack up feeder traffic between the gautrain & surrounds- also more public parking areas - they may have a chance.

[the nerd]

My office is on 11th Ave just down from Benmore, we are going to have a time here.

I can see so many people trying to use the small streets I am going to have to park elsewhere and commute in.

[cat-i]

Getting cars and taxis to obey the basic rules of the road then traffic may already be better.

 

Stop when the light is red, don't use the oncoming lane to pass the other cars in the queue, you can't be in the far right lane (the oncoming lane) at a traffic light and then when the traffic light changes, stop all the other cars because you want to turn left. Stay off the sidewalk with your car or taxi. Dont block the traffic lights so that when it's green for the other side no no can go anywhere. Put some or other anti-theft device in so that the cables of traffic lights can't be stolen.

 

Wont that help a bit?

[Cargyrl]

This is going to be as difficult to police as herding cats.... although EDS seem to have gotten that right...

 

 

 

I want to be a cat-herder! Looks so cool! and off-topic  LOL

[mudda]

damn it, i thought more road would be closed for my commute ...

 

kind of misses the point for eco travel when its such a small closure ...

 

at most 5 minutes of my commute if I choose west street...

 

I was hoping for at least one lane of sandton drive from nicole. ..

[Belgarath]

If I could get my bike onto the Gautrain I would love that. But I do see Gautrain's problem about bikes - space, and the train needs to be off as soon as possible. Embarking/disembarking my bike from my car takes long enough.

[Gandalf]

and if they live in Pretoria..... long walk on freeway!

 

 

Gautrain

and bike 

[RocknRolla]

It's great idea.

 

but like everything else, it's poorly executed.

 

Dedicated bus lanes from the feeder routes into sandton with busses (obviously) leaving at regular intervals. Thus there is an alternative to get into sandton and not clog up the burbs with cars parked all over near the closures.

 

I have often used the gautrain to get from parktown to sandton/midrand/pretoria, for appointments, although it sure is not faster than a car.

 

Unsynchronised bus/train interface makes for 15 to 20 minute wait at the stations.

 

Anyway. My point like other's in this thread, there is a whole bunch of other stuff that could have been put into place before something like this can successfully be implemented.

 

Will I partake? Sure, if I have to see a client I will certainly use public transport (except for a minibus taxi) to get to Sandton.

[Gandalf]

If I could get my bike onto the Gautrain I would love that. But I do see Gautrain's problem about bikes - space, and the train needs to be off as soon as possible. Embarking/disembarking my bike from my car takes long enough.

I took my bike on the train for almost a year. peek hours too. from park to hatfield. not as bad as you may think.

Then again i got on at the first and last stops, so you can basically pick any spot. Climbing in at middle stations is a bit of a problem, even without a bike, so frustration will arise there.

 

http://www.juca.org.za/?p=587

 

I made a bag like in the below link. Just need to take the front wheel off to minimize the space used on the train, it can fit between the seats and still have enough space to allow someone to pass with a bit of struggle

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/92928-bike-commuting-and-gautrain/

[dirtrider]

Public transport, cycling, walking.

 

Ok we all not as brave as you are . I dare you to cycle or walk from Centurion to Sandton for a week . I did it many years ago and stopped because it's just to dangerous . I assume with public transport you referring to the Gautrain ,  where 7 people have already been mugged and robbed at just the Centurion station alone , I haven't got info for other stations . Or how about taking one of our missiles that you see coming down the dirt next to the road everyday ?

[arabsandals]

Yup they originally wanted to close off the entire CBD then realised how stupid that would be.

So by closing off West Street - all they're doing is pushing more cars into a smaller area.

There are talks of allowing bikes onto the gautrain ..but still under duscussion.

 

It's a good idea but not well thought out. The cycle /walkway lanes from Alex to Sandton are great, but there's so much foot traffic, i have yet to see a bike manage to ride there.

 

If they resort to a levy to drive into the sandton CBD, and jack up feeder traffic between the gautrain & surrounds- also more public parking areas - they may have a chance.

Eh? what cycle/walkway lanes from Alex to Sandton?

[Bianchisti]

This is great but it concerns me that they want to start with an initial "1 month car free period". I think that's a bit too ambitious. 1 day a week for 4 weeks might have been a better kick-off point.

 

Sandton is not far off New York where there is no room to expand the road network. All they can do these days is to manage traffic which requires a massive initial capital outlay to put in the infrastructure for monitoring. That capital is not available and in the end Joburg residents will have to pay for this.

It's the only way I can see the congestion getting managed effectively. It's that or people need to change their attitude and thinking which is exactly what this initiative seeks to achieve. So stop complaining.

[J∆kk∆ls]

I hope this pulls off. However how is public transport in GP? 

Not everyone can cycle or afford a bicycle.

[Uni]

Eh? what cycle/walkway lanes from Alex to Sandton?

Sorry i should have been more specific - havent been in Sandton in a long time, but i use the greyston offramp, towards Wynberg. That road there - they created a dedicated lane right off the road - i dont know how the whole route works and how far it extends into Sandton.