Important road in Cape Town to reopen after 3 years

The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate has confirmed that the section of Kloof Road between Kloof Nek Road and Round House Road will reopen soon.

It added that the project has reached the final rehabilitation phase and that, if all goes according to plan, the road will reopen by mid-December, in time for the festive season.

The road has been closed since a Level-9 storm on 24 September 2023 destabilised the embankment supporting Kloof Road, making it unsafe to carry a load.

A year later, more heavy rain further damaged the road, which led to another slip failure along the route.

The City of Cape Town initially planned to repair the road within 24 months, but subsequent damage delayed the repairs until this year.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas, said that while Kloof Road has been closed for more than three years, residents will soon be able to use the road again.

He visited the site with Ward Councillor Nicola Jowell and confirmed that the work is on track to open the road to the public by its target date of mid-December.

“I want to thank the local community and commuters for their patience and support during this time. It has been a long wait, but the end is in sight,” he said.

Kloof Road falls within the Table Mountain National Park and forms part of an important corridor linking the City Bowl to the Atlantic Seaboard suburbs of Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, and Sea Point.

Considering the local plant life

Kloof Road falls within a critical ecological area, which the City had to consider while planning its rehabilitation.

“Early this year, we undertook a search and rescue exercise to locate and exhume indigenous plant species and took a variety of clippings,” explained Quintas.

“These were looked after at a nursery, and I am very pleased to say that the transplanting of the clippings on the reconstructed slopes has started.”

To date, the completed road work includes constructing soil nails and gabion walls at the base of both slope failures and reinstating the slopes up to road level. 

According to the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate, the gabions will serve as a retaining structure to support the slopes and the road above.

Other work along the road includes new stormwater infrastructure, including upgraded stormwater culverts, and the rehabilitation of the road’s cobble channels.

“I want to remind the public that we are only repairing what has been damaged, and cannot add improvements such as walking and cycling lanes,” explained Quintas.

Damage along Kloof Road