{"id":555,"date":"2021-06-14T10:46:48","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T10:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/?p=555"},"modified":"2022-04-02T09:47:57","modified_gmt":"2022-04-02T09:47:57","slug":"comments-on-the-proposed-nmt-policy-and-master-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/?p=555","title":{"rendered":"Comments on the proposed NMT policy and Master Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Stellenbosch Fietsry se amptelike kommentaar oor die voorgestelde nuwe NMT-Beleid en -Meesterplan : 14 Junie 2021<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>COMMENTS:\nStellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>NMT\nTRANSPORT POLICY AND MASTER PLAN<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GENERAL COMMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling, in broad terms, welcomes and\nunderwrites the content of the above-mentioned documents.&nbsp; There are some secondary reservations\nregarding specific projects in the NMT Masterplan.&nbsp;&nbsp; These will be highlighted and commented on\nlater.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling, however, is frustrated and not\nat all happy with the progress over the past years made to improve facilitation\nof NMT and more specifically the cycling component.&nbsp; In our view the reason for this does not lie\nwith a lack of or good policies and plans.&nbsp;\nStellenbosch Municipality has already in 2015 had an excellent Cycle\nplan drawn up.&nbsp; The cost to have the plan\ndrawn up was in the order of R500&nbsp;000,00!&nbsp;\nThis Plan has now for all practical purposes over the past 6 years been\ngathering dust on a shelf somewhere.&nbsp;\nVery few, if any, of the proposals in the plan were executed.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New and reviewed draft NMT policies and plans have now been\ndrawn up and are now tabled for comment.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lack and\/or insufficient progress in the facilitation of\nNMT does not lie with the plans but rather with the lack in political vision\nand will of the Council and its officials.&nbsp;\nAs correctly mentioned in the draft policy and plans, Stellenbosch is\nideally positioned to become a model town in South Africa in terms of NMT and\ncycling.&nbsp; Stellenbosch also has a serious\nvehicle congestion problem as highlighted in the draft Roads Master plan.&nbsp; Numerous current examples of progressive\ntowns and cities all over the world reflect the success of promoting NMT and cycling\nto help resolve vehicle congestion and encourage motorists to leave their cars\nat home. Other positive elements of promoting NMT include improved quality of\nlife by increasing active mobility, calmer traffic that further favours the\nsafety of the most vulnerable groups and a decrease in accidents, improved air\nquality, decreased emission and low-carbon economy and the advancement of\neconomic equality and greater autonomy.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Council\u2019s approach currently seems to provide less than the\nminimum for existing needs for cycling.&nbsp;\nInstead, it should aggressively invest in infrastructure and other\nmeans to make cycling safer and easier to increase the cycling share of\ntransport.&nbsp; Safety or rather the lack of\nsafety is the primary reasons why more people do not cycle or do not want their\nchildren to cycle on public roads and to school.&nbsp; Vehicle congestion at schools remains one of\nthe major headaches.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By having the new NMT Policy and Plan drawn up and by\napproving them Council talks the talk.&nbsp;&nbsp;\nThe meagre budgets allocated to implement these plans do, however, not\nwalk the walk.&nbsp; Not by far! Stellenbosch\nFietsry\/Cycling and other parties have for some time been requesting firm\nfinancial commitments from Council towards the systematic implementation of the\n2015 cycle plan, &nbsp;but to no avail.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling would like to suggest that\nCouncil commits itself in the policy and the masterplan to provide an ongoing\nlong-term budget to implement the NMT plan\u2019s essential and desirable cycling projects\nover the next 6 years.&nbsp; This will require\nonly a nominal portion of the total roads transport budget of the\nMunicipality.&nbsp;&nbsp; If no action is taken to\nimplement the new, revised second plan, the cost of drawing up these plans is a\nwaste of time and money and is fruitless expenditure. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is also Stellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling\u2019s view that existing\nNMT and cycling infrastructure are not properly maintained.&nbsp; Proper maintenance makes for safer use but also\nin the long term brings major savings in terms of capital projects by extending\nthe life cycle of infrastructure.&nbsp; This point\nalso applies to NMT infrastructure along Provincial roads within the\njurisdiction area of the Municipality.&nbsp;\nStellenbosch Municipality should, as agent-representative of its\ninhabitants, take the lead to ensure that this is achieved through good\ninterdepartmental cooperation and agreements.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Waar daar \u2018n wil is, is daar \u2018n weg!&nbsp; <\/strong><strong><br>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>COMMENTS RELATING SPECIFICALLY TO THE NMT POLICY DOCUMENT\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Section 3.&nbsp; First\nStrategic Objective.&nbsp; <em>Connect the\noutlying communities with the CBD in a safe and attractive manner and improve\nsafety, access to opportunities and the dignity of these communities. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling agrees in principle.&nbsp; We are, however, concerned about the specific\nexamples muted. Pedestrian and Cycle bridges are awfully expensive and are\noften not well used.&nbsp; Personal safety is\nalways a concern with pedestrian bridges and with sub-ways.&nbsp; &nbsp;The\nquestion here is, \u201cIs this good value for money\u201d especially when budgets are\nconstrained. &nbsp;The bridges crossing the\nrails should be put on ice until Metrorail is again functional.&nbsp; To fix the current vandalised railway infrastructure\nthat stretches over kilometres of line will not happen soon and will cost\nmillions of rands.&nbsp; It is quite possible\nthat the section serving Stellenbosch may never again come in use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In terms of value for money and limited budgets consideration\nshould be given to only gravel surface pavements and cycling paths.&nbsp; Hard surfacing with tarmac, concrete or\npaving is not necessary in the lower use situations.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Section 6.&nbsp; NMT\nPOLICIES <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Far more emphasis needs to put on speed reduction in the CBD,\nresidential areas and routes frequently used by pedestrians and cyclists.&nbsp; A blanket general reduced speed limit for\nsuch areas (for example 30 kph) is proposed. This can be backed up by the\nincreased use of various other traffic calming measures, for example speed\nbumps, raised\/elevated pedestrian and cycle crossings etc., where\nnecessary.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Section 6.6 (in particular the third paragraph).&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellenbosch Municipality\u2019s engagement in this regard is clearly not adequate.&nbsp; When looking at the latest provincial infrastructure additions within the Stellenbosch area of jurisdiction it is clear these interventions are managed typically to favour the needs of motorised vehicles at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists.&nbsp; The Municipality should find ways to address this shortcoming to better ensure NMT and cycle user\u2019s safety and needs.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>NMT MASTER PLAN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Municipality should commit itself to a detailed execution\nplan of the Master Plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stellenbosch Fietsry se amptelike kommentaar oor die voorgestelde nuwe NMT-Beleid en -Meesterplan : 14 Junie 2021 COMMENTS: Stellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling NMT TRANSPORT POLICY AND MASTER PLAN GENERAL COMMENTS Stellenbosch Fietsry\/Cycling, in broad terms, welcomes and underwrites the content of the above-mentioned documents.&nbsp; There are some secondary reservations regarding specific projects in the NMT Masterplan.&nbsp;&nbsp; These will &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/?p=555\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Comments on the proposed NMT policy and Master Plan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-municipal-missives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=555"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellenboschfietsry.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}