THE road closure caused by the reconstruction of the slow lane on the busy N3 Durban-bound from Sanctuary Road to Link Road in Town Hill is now in effect and will continue until 1 December, the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) has announced.
Two lanes will be closed on the carriageway. The contractor will construct the asphalt base and the surfacing of the slow lane on the N3 southbound. The middle lane will be closed for use by construction vehicles during the construction period.
“The concrete barriers will be moved across to the edge of the fast lane, and all vehicular traffic will be restricted down to one lane only, which means the fast lane, commencing from just past the arrestor bed to a position of 400m past the Peter Brown Bridge. The asphalting operations will start from the southern or lower side and work up towards the arrestor bed,” said Jason Lowe, SANRAL’s Eastern Region Project Manager.
A temporary Variable Message System (VMS) was installed before the Cedara offramp to warn motorists of the upcoming closure and to give them an option to use R103 as an alternative. “Only light motor vehicles are advised to consider the use of the Cedara offramp (R103) to Pietermaritzburg as an alternative route,” said Lowe.
The following are the conditions of the closure:
- The closure of the middle lane will now begin on 16 November at 20h00 and is scheduled to be reopened on 1 December 2021 and not on 14 December as earlier reported.
- All vehicles will merge into a single lane in the vicinity of the arrestor bed and be controlled by synchronised traffic signals that will be in operation 24 hours per day.
- CCTV cameras will monitor the traffic flow. The synchronised, manually controlled traffic signals will control the movement of both light and heavy vehicles into a single lane flow.
- Due to this reduction to one lane, it is expected that a maximum delay of approximately 1½ hours will be experienced by motorists approaching Cedara during the morning peak period.
“SANRAL would like to apologise for the temporary inconvenience and disruption these operations will cause to the travelling public. However, these are unavoidable maintenance works required to maintain the structural integrity of the N3. The construction team appreciates your patience. It is important to note that upon completion, the works will be of long-term benefit to all road users,” said Lowe.
