These major highway upgrades in South Africa will take 10 years to complete

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has revealed that its flagship N2/N3 road improvement projects in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will take anywhere from eight to ten years to complete and create employment opportunities for approximately 15,000 individuals.

These projects include enhancements to a 55km stretch of the N2 from Lovu River on the South Coast to Umdloti on the North Coast, as well as to an 80km section of the N3 from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.

The upgrades will see the widening of the freeways in the identified locations to four or five lanes in each direction, and the reconfiguration of most major interchanges.

The agency has set aside a budget of R6.65 billion for the Lovu River-to-Umdloti and R15 billion for the Durban-to-Pietermaritzburg job.

Major economic benefits

According to Sanral, the N2/N3 enhancements form part of the national government’s key strategic integrated projects (SIP2): Durban-Free State-Gauteng Logistics and Industrial Corridor.

Other projects currently falling under the jurisdiction of SIP2 include the R4.7-billion upgrade of the N3 between the Westville Viaduct and the Paradise Valley Interchange.

The main objectives of the SIP2 comprise:

• Raise efficiency along the N2/N3 corridors
• Improve access to Durban’s export and import facilities
• Integrate the currently disconnected industrial and logistics activities in the region
• Integrate marginalised rural production centres surrounding the N2/N3 corridors that are currently isoldate from the main logistics systems

The successful implementation of these roadworks is therefore expected to make South Africa more competitive on an international level in terms of logistic costs and transport efficiencies, as well as improve freight handling capacities to meet future demands.

“Such investment in road infrastructure upgrades, especially in rural and underdeveloped communities, provides an opportunity for generating economic growth, alleviating poverty, reducing inequality, and increasing international competitiveness,” said Sanral.

“The N2/N3 Freeway Upgrade brings with it great improvements for the KZN region and the country, in terms of improved mobility, job creation, economic growth, and more.”