Town planning is a hugely complex long-term process for making bold commitments on behalf of all its inhabitants. In time lessons are learned from both the successes and the failures. More than half a century ago Cape Town took daring steps in creating motor freeways, underpasses for pedestrians in the city centre and the controversial pedestrianisation St George’s Street.
St Georges Street was an experiment that had the fallback advantage of being easily reversed if it failed to satisfy. It succeeded spectacularly. The underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists in Rondebosch were failures.
Cities must continue to plan ahead boldly. Right now the City of Cape Town is calling for feedback on the abrupt new direction it believes the City needs to take: Planning for pedestrians, cyclists and the natural environment. That may sound retrogressive, but it is not as it goes back to the fundamentals: Cities are for people. Please read the Executive Summary and encourage this initiative.
The Western Province Pedal Power Association (now Pedal Power Association, PPA) was founded in 1976 to campaign for a network of safe, enjoyable and convenient bicycle paths to facilitate and encourage bicycle riding for recreation, transportation and touring.
Since bicycle usage had all but totally declined by 1976, PPA had to assure the city that bicycle ownership was high and that a sizeable latent desire to cycle was suppressed by the perceived hazards associated with sharing roads dominated by motorised vehicles.
Visible proof was required. It is now hard to imagine the doubt PPA faced in 1977 in arranging for 100 km of car-free roadway around the Peninsula to prove that this would entice cyclists out of hiding in 1978 to ride the first Argus Cycle Tour.
The turnout was astounding, establishing the desire for a repeat in 1979. After the second event the City called for a three-year project to commence the construction of a network of bicycle paths. The PPA had been working on that concept and completed the task in six weeks which Council approved with a three-year budget.
In 1980 our family was invited by a relative living in Melbourne to visit Australia. I took the opportunity to speak to planners in Geelong about their efforts to encourage cycling. Bicycle planning in Cape Town and Geelong were then at very similar stages.
Cape Town abandoned its plan in 1980. Geelong, Melbourne and Australia kept going.
A Cape Town doctor, his wife and their young son, recently emigrated to Australia and settled in Geelong. He wrote enthusiastically:
Hi John
I am really enjoying cycling around Geelong. James and I go everywhere on our bicycles. I'm riding a lightweight racing bike that I got for free. Its in perfect condition, doesn't make any unwanted noises. I love the speed. Today on my way home from the botanics I was cruising at 40 km/h with relatively little effort. There are a lot of cycle paths here so you can mostly get from A to B staying on cycle paths the whole time. Which is good for James’ safety.
John Stegmann 18 November 2024