The City of Polokwane has allocated R145 million in the next 12 months to upgrade the transport infrastructure in the area ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

The City of Polokwane has allocated R145 million in the next 12 months to upgrade the transport infrastructure in the area ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

"We want to have state-of-the-art road infrastructure as one of the World Cup legacy projects," said Ndavhe Ramakuela, Polokwane's 2010 World Cup director.

"The transport infrastructure deals with all the road networks. We have already started with the process of upgrading around the city.

"After the construction of the stadium, which is also well on track despite the recent labour strike, transport will be next big project for us ahead of the World Cup.

"We also want to make the new Peter Mokaba Sports Centre [a World Cup venue] accessible to everybody.

"That will also include other World Cup facilities like the fan parks, official training venues in Seshego and Mankweng.

"Also included will be the route to the airport (Gateway International); the airport will be busy during the tournament."

Ramakuela said they will also use the World Cup to promote the use of public transport to ease the anticipated traffic congestion in the city.

"We would like to inform the community that some of the streets in the city will also be accessible through the use of public transport.

"It will be chaotic if we are all going to use our private cars to go to the stadiums, that is why we will also have park-and-ride faci- lities.

"People will park their cars at designated areas where they will be picked up by official transport to the match venue or fan parks.

"We also encourage the use of non-motorised transport, including walking and cycling for those who are not far away from the stadium. It will also encourage a healthy lifestyle among our people."

Ramakuela said the city will convene a series of meetings in the next three months with the transport stakeholders to deal with the World Cup-related issues.