Africa-Press – South-Africa. As Transport Month kicks off, the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town has drawn sharp criticism from activists following its decision to remove a pedestrian crossing.
A petition has since been started by lobby group Young Urbanists to bring the crossing back. They have accused the V&A Waterfront of not consulting with the public before making the decision.
The pedestrian crossing was located on Dock Road, linking Battery Park and the Waterfront.
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Young Urbanists coordinator Roland Postma said: “With the sudden and hasty removal of the crossing with no public input, let alone from the thousands of working-class pedestrians that make use of the pedestrian crossing from their place of work and the CBD, this area has made a big U-turn on what made it so caring, safe and transformational.”
Postam added that walking was the most common mode of transport used in the country, with about 17.4 million South Africans walking to their various destinations, followed by 10.7 million people who made use of taxis, and 6.2 million who used cars/trucks.
“This means 27.4 million users are reliant on taxis and walking as a method of commuting. Considering that thousands walk from their place of employment from the Waterfront to the taxi rank in the CBD, this removal is to the detriment of the everyday South African,” he said.
Sindile Mavundla, the founder of Khaltsha Cycles, said half of South Africans did not own a car.
“This removal doesn’t make sense. It is irrational, dangerous and indifferent to our plans as a country,” he said.
The Waterfront has, however, stuck to its guns.
Spokesperson Donald Kau said they were experiencing a challenge in achieving a balance between maintaining a pedestrian-friendly environment while accommodating the often-high number of vehicles that traverse the property.
“Some car drivers are frustrated at having to wait for pedestrians crossing in more than one location as they enter or leave the V&A via Dock Road in the vicinity of the Canal plaza,” he said.
Kau added that they continued to assess how motorists and pedestrians responded to the changes they were experimenting with.
“In the meantime, we have put staff (crossing guards) to direct movement towards the two options, and as people get used to using them, we’d hopefully see less conflict there,” he said.
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