Durban — Sanral has advised road users of the state of the national road network in KwaZulu-Natal during the festive season.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sanral advised road users of the state of the KZN roads and said it is expected that travel will increase during the holiday period.
Sanral said that the road construction industry will shut down operations on December 14, this year, and resume on January 8, 2024.
The agency said the following traffic accommodations should be taken into account when planning holiday travel:
- The shoulder on the N3 southbound (Durban-bound) was closed on December 4, 2023, to construct the temporary on-ramp at Cliffdale Road overpass. The road, which is part of the N3 Key Ridge to Hammarsdale upgrade project, will reopen on approximately March 30, 2024, Sanral has announced.
- Furthermore, the traffic lanes on the N3 northbound (Pietermaritzburg-bound) between the M13 and Hammarsdale interchanges will have long-term reduced lane widths from January 10 to July 29, 2024, as part of the construction process for the realignment of the N3 between Key Ridge and Hammarsdale.
Sanral’s eastern regional manager, Dumisani Nkabinde, said: “Following the placing of the concrete barriers, the left-hand shoulder on the N3 Southbound will remain closed from the Cliffdale Road overpass for a length of 500m from December 4, 2023, to approximately March 30, 2024.”
Nkabinde said that the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and municipal traffic police, with the assistance of the contractor’s traffic accommodation team, will manage and monitor traffic during the shoulder closure. The slow, middle and fast lanes of the N3 will still be fully open to traffic during construction of the temporary on-ramp.
He said work on the N3 northbound carriageway between the Cato Ridge Interchange and Dardanelles will see southbound traffic being diverted onto the newly constructed carriageway between the Cato Ridge and Camperdown Interchanges, thereby enabling the reconstruction of the southbound carriageway.
“The switchover will commence at 7pm on Tuesday, December 12, until 5am on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. This traffic switch shall not affect the northbound traffic, and motorists and all road users shall continue using the current lanes. Contraflow conditions between Camperdown Interchange and Dardanelles will not be affected by this traffic switch and shall remain in place,” Nkabinde said.
He said that once the traffic has been diverted off the southbound carriageway between Camperdown and Cato Ridge Interchanges, construction will begin on a new four-lane southbound carriageway. It is expected that contraflow conditions shall prevail until January 2025.
Nkabinde also said that short-term single-lane closures will be in place between the M13/N3 and Hammarsdale Interchanges between December 11, 2023, and February 29, 2024, for the placement of the concrete barriers and for the remarking of traffic lanes. The RTI and the municipal traffic police, with the assistance of the contractor’s traffic accommodation team, will manage and monitor traffic during these closures.
He said there will be lane closures from January 9 to February 9, 2024, between the hours of 8pm to 4.30am to facilitate the placing of concrete barriers as part of the construction process for the road upgrades from Westville Viaduct to Paradise Valley Interchange.
Nkabinde said the lane closure will take place in the east and westbound fast lanes of the N3 between Westville Viaduct (Pavilion Mall) and Paradise Valley Interchange (N3/M13 split). The RTI and the municipal traffic police, with the assistance of the contractor’s traffic accommodation team, will manage and monitor the diversion of traffic during this period.
“Sanral wishes road users a safe festive season and we appeal for compliance with all the rules of the road,” Nkabinde said.
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