The Record of Decision allowing SANRAL to go ahead with its controversial R10 billion N1/N2 Winelands toll project may have expired, raising a major question about the validity of the project.All major construction projects require an environmental impact assessment to be carried out. Based on this, the go-ahead is then given or denied by the Minister of Environmental Affairs in a document called a Record of Decision.

The Winelands toll project received its Record of Decision in 2005. Following objections, it was reissued on February 28, 2008 and signed by the then-Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

However, a specific clause in the document could now bring the large-scale project to a halt before it is even off the ground.

To date, no work has started on the project, and the clause states that if work has not commenced on it within four years of the signing of the Record of Decision, it will expire and a new application has to be made. The four-year period ended in February last year.

However, SANRAL spokesman Vusi Mona said while they could not comment in detail as they considered the matter sub judice, they did not view the Record of Decision as having expired and would present their reasons in court.

The City of Cape Town is seeking an urgent interdict to halt the project and the matter will be heard in the Western Cape High Court next month.

In 2011, the city declared an intergovernmental dispute with SANRAL over the tolls, saying the environmental impact assessment and Intent to Toll processes were flawed.

In October that year, then-Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele placed all tolling projects on hold but, during that time, SANRAL continued with the process, subsequently naming the preferred bidder.

The city says that despite several requests, SANRAL refuses to provide information on what the project will cost, and what the toll fees will most likely be.

Brett Herron, mayco member for transport for the City of Cape Town, said SANRAL claimed that it had stalled the expiry of the Record of Decision by starting some of the work itself.

Court papers include a letter from Environmental Minister Edna Molewa dated September 2012, which indicates that a number of activities had commenced.

These include periodic maintenance of the N1 between Koelenhof and the Huguenot toll plaza and the widening of the N1 between the Huguenot toll plaza and the tunnel. This, however, raises further questions.

SANRAL has indicated that because the roads have been declared tolls by the minister, they are now “precluded” from using their annual budget to fund necessary work, making the start of the toll project all the more urgent.

But, this begs the question how it has funded the works already completed, totalling R296 million with no concessionaire in place.

“SANRAL must have funded or partially funded these works,” the city says.

And, if so, “it can pay for whatever works are genuinely urgent so that they go ahead without delay”, the city adds.

Even if the project does go ahead with the Record of Decision, it could be some time before it gets under way. By SANRAL’s own admission, the process of negotiating with a concessionaire could be a “time-consuming and lengthy project”.

In the meantime, the situation presented to the Minister of Environmental Affairs in the original application, could have changed. Some of the specialist reports measuring economic, social, noise, air quality and water impacts available on SANRAL’s website are 10 years old.

A second economic impact assessment, drawn up in 2008, is nearly five years old.

Mona said this week that the 2002 documents are still valid. In the reports, no tariffs are suggested and experts have made projections using a general “high toll” figure and a “low toll figure”.

According to these reports:

• The best option to cover the costs would be through the fuel levy. But as money from this levy goes into the general fiscus and cannot be ring-fenced, this is not a viable option. Tolling is the second best option.
• Tolling has “very high benefit-to-cost ratios” where for every rand of expenditure, benefits totalling R7.70 would be reaped in the case of toll plazas and of R10.80 if electronic open tolling (e-tolling) is used.
• There will be some economic “losers”, including certain industries and lower income groups.
• It will affect alternative routes as a result of diversions by those not wanting to pay tolls, causing higher maintenance costs on these roads.
• In most instances, noise impact would be low. However, noise on certain stretches of the road, including land near the N1 between Durban Road and Paarl and near the N2 between Vanguard Drive and Somerset West was already “unacceptably high”. This would need to be mitigated.
• The N1 and N2 are getting to the end of their “design life”, calling for serious upgrades. A recent media release by SANRAL states that the roads have deteriorated, with “crocodile cracking” occurring in some areas, which can cause potholes.

A City of Cape Town study of the roads indicates:

• Many cases where SANRAL has indicated a need for increased capacity, yet there is no pressing need.
• The Huguenot tunnel south bore equipment, which SANRAL says is nearing the end of its design life and creates a safety hazard, should be replaced, using toll fees from the tunnel. Creating a second bore wouldn’t address the problem.
• SANRAL refuses to hand over most recent reports for each section of the road, which would detail the extent of deterioration. But the most recent road conditions report published on the SANRAL website shows the road quality for the affected sections vary from “fair to good” to “good”.
• The city says crocodile cracking can be addressed through routine maintenance.

*Bianca Capazorio / Weekend Argus