City Deep and Kazerne get better transport links

DEVELOPMENT OF infrastructure around the City Deep container terminal is well under way. Two of the three roads identified as priority areas have been upgraded while the third is almost complete, says Blue IQ project manager Sipho Mhlongo. The upgrade of Lower Germiston Road and Rosherville West Road have been completed, while the construction of the Cleveland Road link, which started in April this year, is in progress, he says. This is part of Blue IQ’s plan to develop the City Deep and Kazerne areas into an export-orientated hub rather than to establish an industrial development zone at City Deep. “We decided to address the inefficiencies which existed at the two inland ports in terms of transport and logistics rather than proceed with any IDZ plans,” he said. “Any such move was considered to be unlikely to improve the prospects of the area or the growth potential of the province. “Instead it has become clear that there needs to be a substantive effort to improve the effectiveness of the two inland ports as a whole. This will be achieved by upgrading both the transport and logistics services so that Gauteng companies can import containerised inputs and move containerised goods to harbours for export more cost-effectively. “The result is that we are near completion of the road infrastructure programme and will now concentrate on the development of the sophisticated logistics management system.”