Corridor Crowd­-In

eThekwini seeks private investment around public­transport corridor.

- Shirley Le Guern

The eThekwini municipality is rezoning the land associated with the first phase of the R22­billion GO!Durban integrated rapid public transport network (IRPTN) and is actively courting private­sector partnerships to develop commercial nodes around stations along the corridor.

“There is still a lot of work to be done but we believe this will turn the city around with your partnerships. It will take all of us working together to make this system sustainable,” eThekwini Transport Authority head Thami Manyathi told 40 potential private­sector partners from the property, financial services, retail and manufacturing sectors during a tour of the first dedicated bus corridor in early December.

Known as C3 and valued at around R2.7­billion, the corridor stretches from Bridge City, to the north of Durban, to Pinetown. It is due to be completed in mid­2017 and will be operational by 2018, according to eThekwini Transport Authority deputy head of road systems management Carlos Esteves.

The overall IRPTN will see the development of nine main routes linked by various modes of transport, including bus, rail and taxi.

The first phase, which includes the soon to ­be ­completed C3 corridor, the C9 corridor linking Bridge City with Gateway, Umhlanga, and another linking Bridge City and the Durban central business district, accounts for 60 km of the total 190 km that will be covered by GO!Durban.