The 2010 FIFA Football World Cup Fan Walk in Cape Town is taking shape. This is the route that creates a pedestrian-priority route from the CT Station in the CBD to the CT Stadium to be used by an estimated 18 000 fans on match days.
My 2010 colleague Carola Koblitz briefs CTP and CCID staff members at the start of our recent Fan Walk inspection tour (corner St George's Mall and Waterkant St)
Up the hill to Long Street. Waterkant (Waterside) Street, the main route of the Fan Walk in the CBD, marks near where the historical shoreline used to be. The whole of Waterkant street is being transformed into a pedestrian-priority route and cycle lane
Broken street furniture in Waterkant St due to be repaired in time for 2010 as part of the City of Cape Town's beautification programme
Sea Street is another reminder of where the shoreline used to be before the reclamation of the foreshore after 1939
Greening the city. In future years, the Fan Walk will be a shaded avenue
The Fan Walk goes past several traditional shops, including the well-known Lusitania Fisheries, where you can get one of the best calamari and chip rolls in town!
Improvements to public space often prompt the upgrade of adjacent buildings. Here, a new design-related development on Waterkant Street behind the historic Lutheran Church takes shape
A new pedestrian bridge under construction, corner Buitengracht and Waterkant St
One of the busiest roads in the Central City is Buitengracht Street, which forms a hostile barrier for pedestrians between the CBD and Green Point. A new pedestrian bridge will begin to soften the interface between these two areas. There will also be a new at-grade pedestrian crossing
The Fan Walk passes the Prestwich Memorial in St Andrew's Square, which pays tribute to the thousands of poor Capetonians, many of them slaves, who were buried over the years in unmarked graves outside the historical city boundary (buiten die Buitengracht - outside the Outer Canal). The new Truth coffee shop provides a welcome respite along the route
The other half of the new pedestrian bridge under construction, against a backdrop of the old Lutheran Church and Table Mountain
The old tram rails show where the trams coming from Sea Point and Green Point used to turn towards town along Waterkant Street
The Fan Walk continues past the historic St Andrew's Church into Somerset Road, Green Point
Somerset Road is at the moment a jumble and clutter of traffic, in places very pedestrian unfriendly. The Fan Walk upgrade is an attempt to allocate addition space to pedestrians and cyclists through this busy area
The Fan Walk passes by the popular Cape Quarter extension
The Gallows Hill (another reminder of our conflict-ridden past) Traffic Department parking lot being converted into a temporary access road onto the Western Boulevard as part of the 2010 transport plan
For sale. Another example of how the upgrade of public space can prompt potential private development
The pedestrian and cycle route along Green Point Main Road is now well established, although concrete benches have been placed in awkward places, causing a potential hazard to a crowd of pedestrians and to cyclists
The new Green Point Circle pedestrian underpass links the Fan Walk to the IRT station, the Waterfront, the CT Stadium and the Green Point Urban Park
Looking back. The Fan Walk provides a pleasant 2,6km (approximetely 30 minutes) walk from the CBD to the Stadium, and will become a means of accessing the stadium over and above the bus shuttle systems that will be provided on match days. It will also contibute to the 2010 legacy in the form of permanent cycling and pedestrian-priority routes through the city, which will no doubt lead to ongoing intensification of urban economic activities
