MEDIA RELEASE
State of the national road network in KZN during the festive season
Durban, 13 December 2023 – The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) hereby advises road users of the state of the KZN national road network during this festive season.
SANRAL expects that travel on interprovincial and national roads will peak during the December/January holiday period.
During this period, the road construction industry will shut down operations on 14 December 2023 and resume on 8 January 2024.
The following traffic accommodation should be taken into account when planning holiday travel:
The shoulder on the N3 Southbound (Durban-bound) was closed on 4 December 2023 for the construction of 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 30 March 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 10 January 2024 to 29 July 2024, as part of the construction process for the realignment of the N3 between Key Ridge and Hammarsdale.
“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 4 December 2023 to approximately 30 March 2024,” said Dumisani Nkabinde, SANRAL’s Eastern Regional Manager.
The Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and the 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.
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 on 7pm on Tuesday,12 December 2023, until 5am on Wednesday, 13 December 2023. The northbound traffic shall not be affected by this traffic switch 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,” said Nkabinde.
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.
Short-term single lane closures will be in place between the M13/N3 and Hammarsdale Interchanges between 11 December 2023 and 29 February 2024, for the placement of the concrete barriers and for the remarking of traffic lanes. The Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and the Municipal Traffic Police, with the assistance of the contractor’s traffic accommodation team, will manage and monitor traffic during these closures.
There will be lane closures from 9 January 2024 to 9 February 2024 between the hours of 20h00 to 04h30 to facilitate the placing of concrete barriers as part the construction process for the road upgrades from Westville Viaduct to Paradise Valley Interchange.
The lane closure will take place in the East and West bound fast lanes of the N3 between Westville Viaduct (Pavilion Mall) and Paradise Valley Interchange (N3/M13 split). The Road Traffic Inspectorate (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,” said Nkabinde.