The Cape Town foreshore project moved from drawing board to public vision on 2 October 2026, when the City of Cape Town unveiled an ambitious plan to finally resolve the city’s most famous planning headache: the unfinished elevated freeways of the Foreshore precinct. According to the announcement, the half-built concrete structures that have loomed over the central business district for more than 50 years will be demolished, and the corridor will be reborn as a link bridge, an outbound tunnel, and a brand new waterfront neighbourhood.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis presented the vision at the unfinished highways themselves, the City says, calling the day a historic one for Cape Town. The structures, widely known as the “bridges to nowhere”, date back to the 1970s, when an ambitious freeway scheme was abandoned partway through construction. Generations of Capetonians have grown up beneath the concrete stubs, and the City now intends to finish the story, not by completing the old roads, but by replacing them entirely. Readers following the world’s biggest civil engineering megaprojects can follow more stories like this in the Global Engineering Daily archive.
The Cape Town Foreshore Project in Engineering Terms
The Cape Town foreshore project will be delivered in two halves, with the existing freeways kept in operation during construction so that traffic keeps moving, the City says. In phase one, an iconic new link bridge will be built over Buitengracht Street, and the inbound elevated freeway will be widened and connected directly to Helen Suzman Boulevard. A large new public park and public spaces will be created beneath the bridge, and traffic bound for Green Point, Sea Point and beyond will effectively bypass the central business district altogether.
Phase one also adds two inbound lanes to the freeways, builds a new elevated outbound ramp linking Buitengracht over Dock Road to the existing outbound freeway, converts FW de Klerk Boulevard into a pedestrian-oriented street, implements bus lanes across Buitengracht, connects Buitengracht Park to the V&A Canal with a new canal, and releases three land parcels for a new residential area, according to the City.
Phase two is the more radical surgery. A new outbound tunnel will be constructed on vacant land between the Port and Customs House, running alongside Duncan Road to connect with the N1 and N2 freeways. A new outbound bridge will link Helen Suzman Boulevard with the tunnel, and once the tunnel is operational, the existing outbound elevated freeway viaduct will be demolished. The freed land will make way for a tree-lined harbour promenade and a new Foreshore neighbourhood.
Why It Matters: 15 Hectares, Less Congestion, a City Reconnected to Its Harbour
The City says the Cape Town foreshore project will unlock about 15 hectares of prime inner-city land around the existing unfinished highways, ground that has sat undeveloped for over 50 years and is among the last vacant land available in the central business district. Over the decades ahead, the City expects a vibrant mixed-use Foreshore neighbourhood to rise there, with affordable housing, walkable streets, and a promenade along the harbour edge reaching all the way to Sea Point.
For commuters, the promise is relief. By routing Atlantic Seaboard traffic around the city grid and introducing dedicated MyCiTi bus priority lanes, the City expects the scheme to ease congestion for decades to come. And by removing the concrete barriers that have cut the city centre off from the water, the plan reconnects Cape Town with its harbour and maritime identity, the City says.
Timeline and What Happens Next
Under the Cape Town foreshore project timeline, the bridges and tunnel will take the best part of the next decade to build, the City says, with construction of the larger second phase running until 2040. The new neighbourhoods will unfold even beyond that, unlocking growth and development for the next two to three decades. Phase one construction is targeted to begin during the next Council term, from 2026 to 2031.
The announcement opens the public-facing phase of the project. The City says it will now consult Capetonians on the proposals for the first time, with many public participation opportunities ahead, including road scheme amendments, heritage impact assessments and other statutory requirements. Residents can register for updates and view the detailed proposals at the City’s online hub, foreshore.capetown.
One critical negotiation is already under way. To build the tunnel south of Duncan Road, the City is engaging Transnet, the Port Authority, over land it owns that the project needs. City Manager Lungelo Mbandazayo described the scheme as an opportunity to transform and future-proof Cape Town’s central business district, and said the City has been engaging stakeholders across the three spheres of government and the relevant state-owned entities.
Sources
- Cape Business News: Mayor unveils vision for new bridge and neighbourhood to replace Cape Town’s unfinished highways
- The Newspaper: Cape Town’s Foreshore Project: What’s Really Changing