Freeway study reveals mother of all traffic jams

Parked nose to tail, vehicles entering the Cape Town CBD daily would stretch from the Mother City to Johannesburg.

Nearly 260,000 vehicles enter the country's most congested city on a typical weekday, and according to City of Cape Town traffic statistics only about 250,000 leave.

The reason for the difference in the numbers is unknown but it is thought that commuters leave their cars at work and go home on public transport or in lift clubs.

Light vehicles are the main cause of the congestion, with an average of 234,743 entering the CBD daily. Minibus taxis and buses follow at 11,294 and 4,408 respectively.

The busiest road is Table Bay Boulevard, followed by Nelson Mandela Boulevard and De Waal Drive.

The study was completed as part of preparations for the development of the Foreshore freeway precinct. The area is popular not only for the harbour and V&A Waterfront, but also for its unfinished elevated freeways that for years have been used as sets for movies and television shows.

The city plans to develop land under and between the unfinished freeways, between the city's northern edge and the harbour.

The mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, said the successful bidder would decide whether to finish the freeways or dismantle them.

"The city will make this prime land available to the successful bidder for development in return for the provision of road infrastructure that will resolve the future of the unfinished highways, address current and future traffic congestion, and address the lack of access to and from the CBD," he said.

Town planning consultant Geoff Underwood said a combination of strategies was needed.

"It's important to promote appropriate densification and mixed-use development, so that we're using our urban land more efficiently," said Underwood.

"There [also] needs to be a significant shift towards public transport and we need to encourage people out of private cars."

Herron said there were plans to alleviate traffic in the city through improving public and non-motorised transport, and that affordable housing would also be developed in the foreshore area.