An integrated transport planning approach for Sandton - how do we balance the demands for road space

Abstract

During the past four decades, Sandton experienced significant land use growth, particularly in office and retail development. This is evident from the number of new buildings that have been built recently including the Ernest & Young and Alexander Forbes buildings on Rivonia Road, expansion of Sandton shopping centre and the construction of the Norton Rose Precinct on Fredman Street. The development of the transport system serving Sandton developed largely in response to the land use growth and is mainly rooted on private car based transport. Currently the roads in Sandton are wide and a disproportionate number serves a high-order mobility function. Pedestrian infrastructure and facilities are limited and not thoroughly planned and public transport has little impact on the travel choice of commuters. Due to the limited availability of residential development within or close to Sandton, the greater majority of trips are medium and long distance and therefore erodes the potential for non-motorised transport. Sandton is in many aspects not a unique node and other established areas experience similar transport issues present in Sandton. This paper explores some of these transport issues within established nodes and also outlines solutions presented in the Sandton Integrated Transport Master plan recently developed for the area which may be applicable elsewhere. This plan realises that the current car-based transport network development approach, mainly fuelled by new developments adding to the road network cannot be maintained and that significant intervention is required. Future year scenarios include business as usual, a focus on public transport and a truly integrated land-use and transport view and the implications of each scenario were considered. To reach the desired transport outcome for Sandton over a period of 20 years, the master plan identified a number of structuring interventions addressing all modes of transport but also land use development issues. These interventions aim to create a balanced multi-modal transportation network that accommodates a high level of accessibility and rebalancing streets to provide space for people walking and cycling and in this way creating a liveable city environment. This paper advocates an alternative, more sustainable approach to maintaining the accessibility of established nodes.