2023 Freetown DAT Report - Flipbook - Page 13
Freetown DAT
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sidewalks, streets lined with loading vehicles, uneven
terrain, open drainage culverts and more. Nonetheless,
the four proposed stations are within a ten-minute walk
of thousands of residents today, which could easily
double with basic walk safety improvements in the
future.
Each station and its walkshed define an important
district where access and land use must be equally
addressed to make the corridor and cable car transit
successful for Freetown. Again, it is not enough to
think about how people travel along the corridor. We
must plan for how people get to stations and what are
the destinations within each district and citywide that
can help attract more local trips, thereby reducing
congestion more effectively than the cable car could
alone. A more holistic land use approach can also create
a cable car culture that sees value in making short
trips along the line between stations that each offer a
multitude of local-serving destinations, letting residents
make repeated trips in Freetown without a vehicle and
without congestion.
Government Wharf Station District
The government wharf station is expected to anchor
a district of governance, commerce, employment and
ultimately tourism from outside Sierra Leon. Situated
adjacent to the ferry dock, the station can be an
intermodal interface for ferry commuters as well as the
point of arrival and information for downtown visitors
and tourists. As an end station, it must include a barn
to store and maintain cars, as well as a power station to
feed the cable’s motor. Thanks to the lower coastal plain,
this station can be tall and pack these elements below
the boarding and alighting platform on the highest floor,
helping minimize the steepness of the initial cableway
segment. Accommodation for a future westward
expansion should be included as envisioned in the cable
car plan.
The station is rooted in a diverse district with very
notable tourist destinations right on the waterfront and
The pilot cable car alignment and walksheds around each of four stations anchor a mobility corridor that includes priority bus transit, commuter ferries, improved walk and bike access,
and new local-serving land uses that combined can greatly reduce local congestion.
within a short walk into the downtown. Direct access is
mostly walk-up from downtown or the ferry, along with
taxi access on the ferry’s access road, but additional taxi
stands and bus stops are steps away up nearby stairs
to Wallace Johnson Street, which has the intercity bus
terminal and the proposed transit priority corridor. The
10-minute walkshed includes most of downtown, nearly
reaching the Cotton Tree and including prime sites for
hotel and residential redevelopment.
Within an easy 10-minute walk of the government
wharf station are prime downtown services, tourist
destinations, major employers, intercity buses and
connections to priority transit.
To facilitate the bus transit priority corridor in downtown,
a one-way loop is recommended that takes advantage
of the width of Gloucester Street on the west side
of the loop, Wilberforce Street on the east side, and
their adjacencies to the waterfront and Sanni Abacha
Street, which connects with Kissy Street to the east.
As a measure to aid bus speed and emphasize the
importance of public transit, bus priority lanes can
easily be installed on each street. These lanes—whether
painted or physically separated with rubber dividers
bolted to the roadway—have no effect on general
circulation and a minimal impact to on-street parking.
A maximum of six stops are recommended in the
downtown to help improve transit speed.
The government wharf district is automatically a
destination, thanks to its proximity to downtown, yet
it should serve as the anchor for new tourist-related
development, as well as downtown housing. In order
to accelerate reduced trip-making, the station and
associated multi-modal networks should serve as
a catalyst for development of nearby hotels and
residences that will bring activity to downtown outside
normal working hours, helping to enliven, extend retail
opportunities, reduce the need to drive, and create new
attractions for the city as a whole.
