Durban - The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has announced that traffic on the N2 highway between the KwaMashu Interchange and uMdloti bridge will be disrupted over the next few weeks due to roadworks.
“The work we are doing here is part of the major upgrades on the N2 and N3. On the northbound carriageway, the road widths have already been narrowed up as far as the on and off ramps of the Mount Edgecombe Interchange. Three lanes remain open on the northbound carriageway, but on the southbound carriageway, the number of lanes has been reduced to two. This is causing severe, but unavoidable, congestion during peak traffic, most especially heading south,” said Trevor Zumani, Sanral’s Eastern Region project manager.
For this week, there will be work taking place from Tuesday to Saturday, August 6.
“Day time work, between 9:00am and 3:00pm, will comprise the offloading and stacking of barriers alongside the median on the northbound carriageway, starting more-or-less from the uMhlanga off-ramp, heading north towards the King Shaka Airport. This may create some congestion and motorists are warned to allow extra time to get through,” said Zumani.
He added that night-time work will comprise the moving of the concrete barriers into their final position on the northbound carriageway, starting from approximately 1km north of the KwaMashu Interchange.
At the same time, work will be carried out on narrowing the lanes on the southbound carriageway, from the Mount Edgecombe Interchange bridge as far as the ramps onto the N2. No major disruption is anticipated.
He added that similar work will be carried out from August 7 to 20.
Sanral said motorists should take heed of the following:
- During construction of the northbound carriageway from KwaMashu to Mount Edgecombe, a minimum of three lanes will be open at all times, but the widths of the lanes and shoulders will be noticeably reduced.
- Work on the remainder of the upgrade will have a minimum of two lanes open at all times.
- Where severe disruptions are inevitable, this will be carried out at night wherever possible.
The alternate routes that can be used include:
- The M4 coastal route between Ballito and Durban, however the road has been severely damaged in places by the recent storms,
- The Old North Coast Road, and
- The constructed Dumisani Makhaye highway.
Zumani said Sanral would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
“We appeal to road users to plan their trips accordingly, especially when accessing travel hubs such as the airports. We further appeal to road users to adhere to the road signs and speed limit when approaching and travelling through the construction site,” said Zumani.