VIEW ON GP ROADS
GROWING congestion on Gauteng’s freeways has an impact on the economic potential of the province. The existing road infrastructure must be well maintained while planning is done for new roads to meet the demands of an expanding population. Dr Ismail Vadi has been the MEC for roads and transport in Gauteng for the past seven years. We got the chance to talk to the MEC about plans to grow the province’s primary road network. Here’s how it went...
How does the road network fit into Gauteng’s long-term development plans?
Roads connect people and enable citizens to move within the province, commuting to and from work, visiting family, getting to holiday destinations or places of worship. Apartheid planning kept communities apart, so well-developed road and transport infrastructure is important to connect and integrate people across historical divides.
What are the province’s top road infrastructure priorities?
It is important that we maintain the existing road
MORE road traffic information is now more readily accessible on SANRAL’s freeway road network. The Freeway Management System (FMS) on these roads includes the collection, processing and dissemination of real-time traffic data from a centralised Traffic Management Centre. Road users are able to access this information through multiple platforms.
At the heart of this information platform are the Advance Traveller Information System (Atis) and the Advance Transport Management System (ATMS) software programs, which have both undergone significant updates to add additional functionality
The new Atis was rolled out early in November. It
ONE of Africa’s busiest urban freeways received a major facelift through a multimillion-rand partnership between SANRAL and the Johannesburg Roads Agency.network. We spend a lot of time, energy and resources on maintenance and upgrading. It does not make sense to build new roads if we do not maintain the existing ones.
Then we have to expand the network to meet the demands of higher traffic volumes. This may entail the widening of roads, the conversion of single roads into dual carriageways or entirely new developments. We have seen the growth of new townships and informal settlements and these communities must all have access to good-quality roads.
How has SANRAL contributed to the Gauteng road network?
The province enjoys a very close and constructive relationship with SANRAL. Our officials work closely with the agency on most major construction projects and we benefit from the expertise they offer in areas such as the design and planning of roads.
SANRAL played an important role in the upgrading of the M1 from the Allandale off-ramp to Corlett Drive and we will also work together on the Gauteng portion of the upgraded Moloto Road.
MORE road traffic information is now more readily accessible on SANRAL’s freeway road network. The Freeway Management System (FMS) on these roads includes the collection, processing and dissemination of real-time traffic data from a centralised Traffic Management Centre. Road users are able to access this information through multiple platforms.
At the heart of this information platform are the Advance Traveller Information System (Atis) and the Advance Transport Management System (ATMS) software programs, which have both undergone significant updates to add additional functionality
The new Atis was rolled out early in November. It GOhas several new user-friendly features:
- A single, adaptive display that will automatically align itself with the device being used, whether a computer monitor, tablet, or smartphone
- An updated trip-planning and congestion-alerting tool that provides door-to-door travel times and provides congestion and incident alerts based on user profiles
- A new My Cameras feature will allow users to add their most frequently viewed cameras to a user’s i-traffic.co.za homepage
- An overall enhanced look and feel and improved usability and user experience
The SANRAL FMS is among the richest and most complete sources of incident and traffic data for the road network covered. The enhanced ATMS includes a data warehouse and a data visualisation engine.
The warehouse will now make data easily accessible in near-real-time and archived by transport management professionals within SANRAL, as well as professionals in municipal and provincial partner organisations and other key transport partners.
Additionally, the data can be accessed readily by universities and research and development institutions to gain further insights and to promote innovation into ways to improve mobility and safety on the freeway network.
This data warehouse is being accompanied by a powerful data visualisation platform, using commercial program Tableau. Using customisable dashboards, transport planners, engineers and technicians will be able to glean insights on key transportation parameters, such as critical incident hotspots, correlated with variables such as weather, day of week, network flow and speeds.
These tools are expected to provide the rich FMS dataset to a broad network of transport professionals to improve network operations, planning and design and, more importantly, safety and the road user experience.
As the safety of road users is SANRAL’s main concern, the agency will, in the event of a breakdown on the freeway, remove the vehicle free of charge to the nearest drop-off point. Arrangements from there will then be for the account of the motor vehicle owner.
CONTACT DETAILSAny incident on the Gauteng freeway can be reported to:
- Gauteng
@itrafficgp - T:0800 itraff(0800 487 233) | 012 762 4300
- E:contact@i-traffic.co.za | W: www.i-traffic.co.za
ONE of Africa’s busiest urban freeways received a major facelift through a multimillion-rand partnership between SANRAL and the Johannesburg Roads Agency.
Large sections of the M1 freeway, which bisects the city from north to south, were rehabilitated over a three-year period in a project that was managed by SANRAL. This demonstrates the productive relationship between SANRAL and other provincial and metropolitan roads authorities across all nine provinces, said CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma.
The project represents the single biggest upgrade ever to the primary access route into southern Africa’s largest city and the commercial hub of the region.
The road was first built in 1967, but the rapid growth in the volume of traffic over the subsequent 50 years has necessitated the addition of new lanes and upgraded safety measures.
The rehabilitation of the road forms part of a R110bn investment in infrastructure, announced by the city of Johannesburg in 2015. Construction projectstarted in the same year and included the comprehensive rehabilitation of the road surface, structural repairs, upgraded drainage systems and the addition of new road signs.
The overpass bridges at Oxford and Federation Streets underwent major upgrades, while critical off-ramps on both the northbound and southbound sides were widened to accommodate the higher traffic volumes.
From an engineering perspective, the project was a major accomplishment. Construction had to take place while the road was still being used by private and commercial vehicles, buses and taxis. This required temporary closures of lanes during peak-hour periods and major work done in the evenings and at weekends.
The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, opened the completed project during October Transport Month 2017.