Just when motorists started celebrating the end of construction work on the R40 in Riverside, road works on the Barberton side recently commenced.
“Motorists must please be patient and considerate,” said Mr Lammert Oosthuizen of Royal HaskoningDHV, the advising engineer on the project along with Eyesizwe and Ntsu Consulting Engineers, that design and supervise the project.
According to municipal councillor Mr Steve Schormann the construction is in the final of four phases of upgrades on the R40, which is a major distributor of traffic in Nelspruit and carries regional importance in connecting Nelspruit to White River and Barberton.
For the sake of convenience, there will be no stop and gos implemented for the duration of construction, which is planned to be completed by building contractor Lonerock Construction in September of next year. “There will be at least one lane open in each direction at all times,” he said.
The R40 from Geelhout Avenue to the Brinkspruit River Bridge is being widened. The section from Geelhout to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) College will get an additional lane on each carriage way, bringing the total to six.
The road surface will be reworked completely with new storm-water structures to be constructed. Especially the Enos Mabuza intersection needs to be completely rebuilt, Oosthuizen said. All the traffic lights will also be upgraded, as will the street lights up to the college.
The section from TUT to Brink Spruit will also have a lane added in each direction, bringing the total to four. Since this section’s existing lanes are structurally fine, only the existing potholes will be fixed with a new top layer to be added.
Public-transport stops will also be added on each section and there will also be pedestrian walkways for the length of the road on both sides.
“The point is to separate fast-moving traffic from slow-moving traffic and pedestrians,” Schormann explained.
Mr Humphrey Nkosi, community liaison officer for the R40 committee, said he hadn’t received any complaints from residents in the area about the traffic and they were being kept informed.
Yet, the committee asked motorists to remain patient and keep in mind how convenient the additional lanes will be once they are there.
