THE iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium, with its soaring arches, is the most visible of them and it’s on track for completion towards the end of the year. But there’s a lot more to the current development bonanza than this World Cup showpiece.

Streets Ahead
The economic squeeze and fuel prices may have put the brakes on a decade-long auto industry boom, but anyone who has ever sat in rush hour traffic will know that there are still more vehicles on our roads than ever before. The eThekwini Municipality is acutely aware that the City’s roads are its arteries and has several initiatives on the go to ensure that they don’t become clogged with traffic.

Warwick Flyover
The growing volumes of incoming Western Freeway traffic that pass through the Warwick Precinct has become an ever increasing headache in recent years. It poses a danger to pedestrians and a barrier to development of the area. Now, the Municipality is building a 1km-long extension of the Western Freeway, 300m of it elevated, to carry inbound traffic over the busiest intersections. It should dramatically ease congestion when completed later this year. Warwick Junction will also be the location for a R400-million shopping centre complemented by a 500-bay taxi rank. “The Warwick Mall is the catalyst for the entire precinct plan and introduces a vast new retail element to the Warwick Junction transport node,” said mall CEO Carlos Correia.

Red Tar Spreads
Public transport lanes, introduced on a 3km stretch of the Western Freeway last year, have been a great success says the eThekwini Transport Authority’s Logan Moodley. So, this year, the distinctive, redtarred lanes will be added to the busy Inkosi Albert Luthuli (Southern) Freeway on an 8km stretch between Quality Street and Dalbridge in both directions. Moodley gave the assurance that private vehicles would not feel the squeeze. “We will expand the road in both directions so there will be no interference from public transport with the remaining lanes.”

Khangela Bridge
Work on the R150-million Khangela Bridge is nearing completion on Bayhead Road, promising to ease traffic congestion and provide better access to the city’s vital container terminal cargo hub. Heavy traffic congestion has been a virtually daily problem on Bayhead and South Coast roads because of the many heavy vehicles using them to get in and out of the container terminal on Langeberg Road. The 270m bridge over the Albert Luthuli Freeway will alleviate this snarl up, linking Curnick Ndlovu (Sydney) and South Coast roads with five traffic lanes in both directions. Parastatal, Transnet helped fund the project.

New Airport Takes Off
Durban’s R8-billion ‘aerotropolis,’ comprising the Dube TradePort and new international airport, is rapidly taking shape at La Mercy and is on track for completion in May 2010 in time for the World Cup. Tenders closed in December for a company to operate and manage the cargo terminal for a fixed period.

Bridge City
Bridge City is a R5.8-billion new town centre that is being created on a 60-hectare site 17 kilometres from the Durban city centre, bridging the communities of Phoenix and Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu and linking them into the urban system. This visionary new town will serve as the social and commercial centre to an area housing a population of over 800 000 people, who at present have generally poor access to facilities and social services. At the heart of Bridge City is a shopping centre and apartment complex built around a train station and taxi and bus rank, due for completion this year. Other key developments include a 450- bed provincial hospital, regional magistrates court, regional services hub, office estate, motor city vehicle showrooms and three filling stations. Four consortia have been shortlisted for the R600-million design and construction of the station and 3km stretch of rail linking Bridge City to the main Umlazi-KwaMashu line.

To The Point
The multi-billion-rand third phase of Durban’s Point Waterfront development is expected to take off this year. It will comprise a small craft harbour, a 24-storey five star hotel, a 400 000sqm retail component and more apartments. At the time of MetroBeat going to press, a record of decision on the environmental impact assessment process was imminent.Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo said that by 2012, some R6-billion will have been invested in the Point and that private sector investment had already topped the investment from the City and government in infrastructure. The Point Waterfront is expected to create up to 8 000 jobs during construction and 6 000 permanent jobs. It is estimated that the completion of Phase 2 last year will increase gross domestic product in the eThekwini Municipality by R3-billion and prompt growth in construction investment in the metro of 10-15% over the next ten years. Land values in adjacent areas have already trebled, significantly increasing the Municipality’s rates income.

Umhlanga Ridge
There’s little sign of the economic downturn on Umhlanga Ridge, with new developments and expansion of existing projects set to continue at a furious pace in 2009. At the centre of it all is the Gateway Theatre of Shopping. Currently under construction, there is a 126-room Road Lodge Hotel and 3000sqm, double-level expansion of the Edgars store.

The expanded Edgars is due for completion in May and the hotel by the end of the year. Other expansions being negotiated are 4000sqm Stuttafords, a boutique hotel and an extension for Checkers Hyper. Other developments in the area include a R45-million extension to multi-national Unilever’s Africa headquarters and new corporate homes for Investec and national law firm, Deneys Reitz. A big road project in the area, the M41 interchange, should be finished early in 2010 and promises to unlock Ridgeside, a development on 140 hectares overlooking the ocean and comprising luxury hotels, homes and offices.

City Manager Michael Sutcliffe said it was clear that 2009 would be a pivotal year for development in eThekwini. “Future generations will look back at this time and remark how important it was, how the projects and initiatives of the first decade of this century set Durban up as a world class city for decades to come. “None of this happened by chance. It’s been the result of meticulous planning and a forward-thinking approach by eThekwini policy makers, ’’ Sutcliffe said.