The busiest roads, travel times, cops and road works locations in SA this Easter
The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) says that most major highways in the country are in excellent condition ahead of the Easter weekend and road users will encounter only limited construction activities during the coming break.
Historically, peak traffic times over the weekend are mostly on the Thursday before the long weekend or Easter Monday, said the agency.
It also highlighted that due to overlapping school holidays in 2017, traffic volumes were expected to be slightly higher than usual.
The Department of Transport said that a total of 18,819 traffic officers will be deployed on South Africa’s roads over the long weekend.
The department on Thursday said it expects an increase in traffic on the main routes from Gauteng such as the N1, N3 and N4, with thousands of pilgrims and holidaymakers travelling to church gatherings and holiday destinations.
“During the same period last year, traffic volumes increased on these routes from 1,046,780 in 2015 to 1,248,824 in 2016, marking an increase of 202,044.
“Currently the national department, through the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), manages a total of 12.2 million registered vehicles, 309,768 registered taxis and 61,841 registered buses – with a total of 12.2 million licensed drivers,” the department said.
Busiest routes and times
Western Cape
- Going towards Cape Town from the north, congestion will be experienced at the Huguenot Tunnel and going northwards, again on Easter Monday.
- There will be heavy traffic on Thursday, 13 April, on the N2, towards Caledon, and again on Easter Monday, going toward Grabouw.
KZN
- On the N3 there will be heavy traffic traveling from the coast to the Reef on Easter Monday at Van Reenen’s Pass and the Merrivale Interchange.
Mpumalanga
- There will be heavy traffic at the Machadadorp Plaza on the N4 going from Nelspruit to Middelburg on Easter Monday. In addition, there might be congestion.
North-West
- There will be heavy traffic at the Brits Plaza on the same highway going west on the two days before Good Friday as well as Easter Monday. In the opposite direction, this holds for Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Limpopo
- On the R101 heading toward Bela Bela heavy traffic volumes are expected on the day before Good Friday and coming back, toward Pretoria, on Easter Monday.
- Also along the R101, at Moordenaarsdrift towards Mokopane, heavy traffic flows are expected early on Good Friday while going toward Mookgophong heavy traffic and congestion will occur on Easter Monday.
Police
National and major provincial routes and corridors, will be intensely monitored based on the previous year’s major crash statistics:
• R573 (Moloto Road)
• N1 (Laingsburg – Cape Town)
• N1 (Tshwane – Polokwane)
• N1 (Johannesburg – Bloemfontein)
• N2 (Mthatha – Port Elizabeth)
• N3 (Johannesburg – Durban)
• N4 (Tshwane – Lebombo border)
• N5 (Winburg – Harrismith)
• N6 (Bloemfontein – East London)
• N14 (Klerksdorp – Kimberly)
• N11 (Middelburg – Groblersdal)
• N12 (Klerksdorp – Wolmaranstad)
• R61 (Beaufort west – Mthatha)
• R30 (Bloemfontein, Klerksdorp and Ventersdorp)
• R80 (Mabobane – Tswhane)
• R378 (Vryburg)
• R101 (Hammanskraal – Polokwane), alternative route to N1
Road works
- On the N1 between Gauteng and Cape Town some construction work is taking place on the stretch between Bloemfontein and Kroonstad in the Free State and traffic might be temporarily diverted.
- Ongoing rehabilitation is taking place on the N3 freeway through the Free State from Warden to Van Reenen. Construction activities will, however, be limited during the peak holiday periods.
- North of Durban construction of the Mount Edgecombe interchange near King Shaka Airport and at the Kwabhoboza interchange on the N2 North Coast may cause some delays as a stop-and-go is in place.
- Motorists are encouraged to be alert for pedestrians and stray animals along the national road network. Special attention is to be paid particularly concerning informal settlements in Knysna along the N2, from George to Natures Valley, Kei River to Dutywa, as well as the N4 near Bapong.
- Pilgrims travelling to the Easter festival in Moria in Limpopo will benefit from major upgrades done to the R71 interchange and the access road leading to Zion City.
Loading ...