{"id":881527,"date":"2026-10-27T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=881527"},"modified":"2026-10-27T10:10:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T08:10:04","slug":"new-r797-million-mega-bridge-opening-soon-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/881527\/new-r797-million-mega-bridge-opening-soon-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New R797 million mega bridge opening soon in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new R797-million road infrastructure project on the N7 north of Cape Town is nearing completion, with the Western Cape Government expecting the Van Schoorsdrift Road Safety Improvement Project to be finished by March 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the provincial department, the project is designed to improve safety and traffic flow along a 10-kilometre stretch of the N7 between the Potsdam and Melkbosstrand interchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project aims to address high traffic volumes, heavy trucks, and uncontrolled intersections, which create significant road safety risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located approximately 4.5 kilometres north of the Potsdam Interchange, the development includes a new grade-separated interchange, around five kilometres of new road and six bridge structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure said substantial progress had been made on the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new infrastructure will bring the section of the N7 up to freeway standards by removing direct intersections and dangerous right-hand turns across oncoming traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The corridor serves a growing number of residents and businesses in Cape Town’s northern areas, as well as industrial and agricultural operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also carries heavy vehicles travelling to the Vissershok and Frankdale landfill sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The combination of high traffic volumes, heavy trucks, and multiple access points has increased the risks for motorists using the route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new interchange will separate traffic movements that previously crossed at road level, which would reduce potential conflict points and improve the movement of vehicles along the highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project also includes relocating regional weighbridge facilities and installing weigh-in-motion technology in both the northbound and southbound lanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system will allow heavy vehicles to be weighed while in motion, which will also help authorities monitor overloading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional infrastructure includes stormwater drainage systems, culverts, barrier kerbing, and freeway-standard street lighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the department, 95% of the stormwater drainage work has been completed, while kerb construction is 98% complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearing completion <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Work on the bridge structures and the new road alignment has also progressed, with streetlighting installation underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction began in 2023 following the formalisation of preliminary allocations through the Western Cape infrastructure budget. Initial work included site clearance, bulk earthworks and the relocation of affected utilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By October 2024, construction had advanced to the bridge abutments and piers, while the first permanent closures of minor feeder access roads were introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2025, contractors installed bridge beams, and the main deck spans over the N7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work was carried out using planned off-peak traffic contraflows and temporary bypass lanes to limit disruption to motorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project has also created employment opportunities and directed spending towards targeted enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department said the development had generated 394 work opportunities, with R131.8 million spent on targeted enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provincial Minister of Infrastructure Tertius Simmers said the project was progressing towards its intended improvements in safety and efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery milestone brings us closer to a safer, more efficient N7 that will serve residents, businesses and future generations,\u201d Simmers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once completed, the interchange is expected to improve access management and traffic movement along this section of the N7, which forms part of an important transport corridor north of Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The March 2027 target means several major civil works are nearing completion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new R797-million road infrastructure project on the N7 north of Cape Town is nearing completion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":881549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2114999552197447685","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2250708422416223","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18225120640338025","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[853,26949,13774],"class_list":["post-881527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-south-africa","tag-van-schoorsdrift-road-safety-improvement-project","tag-western-cape-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881527"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881557,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881527\/revisions\/881557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}