Redefining the minimum residential road reserve width 50 years ago

Abstract

Until about 50 years ago, the road reserve width of local streets serving residential areas in South Africa was usually 16m, accommodating a pavement 5.5 or 6m wide, with the remainder of the reserve undeveloped. This norm was set out in a number of guideline documents published by various public sector authorities. When the City Council of Cape Town embarked on the extensive Mitchells Plain development, it was decided that many then current engineering and planning norms would be reviewed. The reserve width described above was one of the technical issues scrutinised. Consensus was quickly reached that, for these local residential streets, a 5.5m kerb-to-kerb width, within an 8.5m road reserve, was appropriate. Just a few years later, the CSIR and Department of Housing “Guidelines for the Provision of Engineering Services in Residential Townships” recommended similar dimensions for minor streets – a significant near-halving of the reserve width generally accepted in South Africa up to that point.