The South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) has announced that the roadworks project in King Williams Town is nearing completion.

The 18-month project, which included work on the national roads in the Eastern Cape town and resulted in the employment of 150 people, is expected to conclude in November this year.

Construction ahead

Construction is currently taking place on Grey Street, Cathcart Road, Maitland Road/R63, Buffalo Road, Alexandra Road, the N2/Hargreaves roundabout, and the roundabout-Breidbach intersection.

It is anticipated that the resurfacing and opening of Grey Street intersections will conclude at the end of July.

Mbulelo Peterson, SANRAL Southern Region manager, said: “The road marking may require traffic to be limited to a single lane at times. There will also be some ancillary works taking place after the road has been opened such as the construction of manholes, kerbing and sidewalks.”

The roadworks are as follows:

• Cathcart Road requires asphalt surfacing and road markings. The road is also expected to open to motorists at the end of July. This roadwork also includes some ancillary work comprising the construction of manholes and storm water drains, and completion of parking areas, kerbing and sidewalks which may bring about minor lane closures at times.
• Maitland Road between Alexandra Road and Joubert Street will continue to experience lane closures as a result of asphalt surfacing that is still scheduled to take place. The remainder of Maitland Road/R63 to the Bhisho intersection only requires road marking. This section of road should be open to undisrupted traffic flow by August 2017. There will, however, be some ancillary works taking place after the road is open such as the construction of manholes, kerbing, sidewalks, landscaping and guardrails.
• Buffalo Road still requires an asphalt surface to be applied and therefore some lane closures should be anticipated. The road is expected to be fully open to undisrupted traffic by October 2017, following the completion of the road marking. Some intersections of the adjoining streets may be closed off in order to construct storm water drains during this time.
  The parking bays in Buffalo Road also require an asphalt surface and each bay will be totally closed off when this activity is taking place. There will, however, be some ancillary works taking place while the road is open such as the construction of manholes and kerbing.
• Alexandra Road still requires the construction of open concrete side drains. This will limit traffic to a single lane at sections of the road where the activity is taking place. The road should be fully open to undisrupted traffic in September 2017, following completion of road markings.
  The parking bays in Alexandra Road also require an asphalt surface and each bay will be totally closed off when this activity is taking place. Some ancillary works will take place while the road is open, such as the construction of sidewalks.
• The N2/Hargreaves circle still requires an asphalt surface to be applied and therefore some lane closures should be anticipated. The road should be fully open to undisrupted traffic at the end of July 2017 after the completion of the road markings. Some ancillary works will take place while the road is open, such as the construction of sidewalks and guardrails.
• The N2 to the Breidbach intersection still requires the application of road markings, which will require traffic to be limited to a single lane at times. There will also be some ancillary works such as the construction of guardrails and fencing, which may require some minor lane closures. It is anticipated that this section of road will be open to undisrupted traffic at the end of July 2017.

Cleaning up and finishing off the road and road reserve will be done continuously until November 2017.

“We apologise for any inconvenience,” said Peterson.