The station deck taxi rank, one of Cape Town’s busiest transport facilities, is back in business again after being closed to minibus-taxis while undergoing a much-needed refurbishment. The Deck, as it’s commonly known, was closed for over five weeks and the taxis have been operating from the Grand Parade during the construction period. The facility has been in operation again since Monday, 25 February 2019.
‘I am very pleased to see the successful completion of this project so that our commuters can enjoy an improved service. Thousands of our residents do not own vehicles and therefore depend on the taxis for their daily commute. The City is constantly striving to make public transport facilities more user-friendly for commuters and more conducive for operators. We understand that the new improvements will take some to get used to in the beginning. However, we promise to stay in constant communication with commuters and operators in order to maintain the good working relationship they have with the City,’ said the City’s Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato.
This project is part of a three-year interval maintenance programme and is not an upgrade project, the last of which took place in April 2015.
The station deck facility was becoming a health and safety hazard and the purpose for the urgent repair and refurbishment is to ensure that facility is appropriately maintained by:
Addressing the drainage problems
Cleaning and clearing the stormwater system
Fixing the potholes in the existing asphalt surfacing
Improving the ablution facilities, the lighting, the wayfinding signage and painting
Restoring the destination boards to assist commuters in finding the correct departure lanes to their destinations
‘Daily, high volumes of commuters and transport vehicles frequent the facility. Also, pedestrians pass through to get to other destinations in close proximity to the station deck, as well as those who visit the facility for commercial reasons (to buy items from the traders).
The refurbishment took all of these parties into consideration. As a result, some of the pavements have been lowered to allow the pedestrians to move around the deck with ease. The road markings have also been made clearer.
‘We have installed access control booms which will operate with a rank token. This mechanism has been installed to assist with clamping down on illegal operators, thereby permitting only vehicles possessing valid operating licences to enter the facility. This will also somewhat reduce the traffic volumes and give more space to the other taxis.
The facility has functioning and clean ablution facilities for both males and females. We urge commuters and operators to work with us to keep this area clean,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, Alderman Felicity Purchase.
Source: City Of Cape Town