The following statement by Phillip Parsons, the Wilderness Ratepayers & Residents Association (WRRA) project coordinator of GIPTN and Harold Basson, George Municipality director: civil engineering services, attempts to clarify some of the outstanding issues and the way forward.
Such a world-class bus service will do much to make transport between George and Wilderness easier and safer and will promote tourism, both foreign and local. In addition, it will enable children to travel easily and safely from the area to schools in George, thus enhancing Wilderness as a desirable place to live and work.
The proposed service is far removed from an upgraded 'taxi' service; it will run to a regular timetable, use modern buses and will be safe, reliable and affordable. It is imperative that grant funds allocated to this project are utilised and the service will be introduced as soon as possible, with services to Wilderness commencing in the second quarter of 2014. The positioning of bus stops is exploratory and certainly not final.
The service will be implemented and changes will then be informed based on usage and demand patterns.
All parties currently agree that the ideal position for the Wilderness Transit Point (terminus) is the SANParks parking area on the north side of the N2.
It has adequate parking, is easily accessible, is close to the village centre, has existing ablution facilities, is close to the beach and has space to accommodate possible future arts and crafts stalls. In addition, it can serve as a transit point for buses operating on the N2 between cities, thus enhancing the GIPTN service.
SANParks has readily agreed to this proposal since they intend on building an information centre (similar to the one in Meirings-poort) on the eastern corner of the existing parking area to act as the western gateway to the Garden Route National Park. However, using this venue as the permanent transit point involves negotiations between SANParks, George Municipality, Eden District Municipality and Sanral and will require an Environmental Impact Assessment and flood line determination.
All of the above will take time, which means that approvals for use of this area and the construction of facilities will not be ready for implementation when the service is scheduled to commence.
In the meantime, an interim transit point will be created outside the old Karos Hotel.
No permanent facilities (toilets, waiting areas) will be built and positive steps will be taken to ensure that area is clean, safe, well-lit and does not expand beyond the transit point.
In order to facilitate this interim transit point, certain upgrades to the road system in the area will be required.
These include the creation of a circle at the junction of Waterside and George roads, the provision of a pedestrian pavement from the interim terminus to the village and the creation of additional parking in George Road. It is important to appreciate that these improvements will remain once the transit point moves to the SANParks parking area so there is a substantial gain for Wilderness in terms of upgraded facilities that the interim transit point will provide.
All parties have agreed that the process of implementation, adaptation and finalisation will take place in consultation with the communities that the GIPTN serves.
To this end, regular meetings will be held between the various stakeholders and regular communication will be forthcoming on progress.
WRRA asks all its members to approach the GIPTN in a positive light and to exercise patience and understanding during the initial implementation phase.
- 'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
