Opening of ring road good news for local motorists

Good news for motorists traveling on the N1 south is that the second phase of the Polokwane Eastern Ring Road was officially opened by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula last Friday during the launch of the festive season road safety campaign.

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) project, which lies to the south and east of Polokwane, starts near the Shell Ultra City and extends from there to the Tzaneen interchange at the R71.

Speaking at the launch, Mbalula praised SANRAL for their efforts. “To the management of SANRAL, I want to thank you for a job well done. This has cost about R800 million, and we were able to create jobs out of this project for SMMEs. We were able to train the youth here in Polokwane and surrounding areas. This is a job well done and this is what these projects are all about,” said the Minister.

“This contract realigned the N1 to give preference to traffic wishing to travel on the Eastern Ring Road around Polokwane, instead of going through the Central Business District. Traffic wishing to travel to the Polokwane CBD will still be able to do that by making use of the new ramps that have been built at the upgraded R101 and N1 Interchange just north of the Shell Ultra City,” said Alan Agaienz, SANRAL’s project manager.

The existing two-lane, single carriageway road has been developed as a four-lane, divided dual carriageway, with the construction of a new northbound carriageway. In addition, approximately 8.8km of the existing road was improved with the widening of paved shoulders and strengthening of the road.

The main contractor, Basil Read, experienced severe cash-flow difficulties and went into voluntary business rescue in June 2018. A new contractor, Edwin Construction, was appointed under a Cession Agreement to complete the work and commenced operations in September 2019.

The capacity and safety of the old N1/ R37 and N1/Road P977 at grade intersections have been improved with the construction of new interchanges. “Six new bridges were constructed, and one existing bridge extended for safety of motorists and other road users. Other improvements include lengthening of new road sections, ramps, rehabilitation of existing road sections, new overpasses and the widening of existing roads,” said Agaienz.

The SANRAL Board chairperson, Mr Themba Mhambi, gave the minister a collage of pictures as a token of appreciation. He said: “Minister, you gave us the tools to do the work that we do. We will make sure that road-infrastructure development is one of the key contributors to the country’s economic recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.” (Article information supplied by SANRAL)

News in brief - Date: 11 December 2020

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