New roads lead to Sheffield Square

Adding a new shopping centre to the already traffic logged Salt Rock/Sheffield area could be like adding fuel to a fire.

But the owners of the new convenience centre, Shoprite Checkers and Evening Star, have promised that this will not be the case.

Evening Star director Brendan Falkson said traffic lights at both entrances will ensure easy access and a clean flow of traffic.

“Sheffield Square will be installing two traffic lights – one at the Salt Rock Main Road entrance and one at the Sheffield Beach Road entrance. Additional traffic lanes, as per the traffic impact studies conducted, will also be built. These will be fully funded by the centre.”

He said the additional lanes will greatly improve the current congestion, especially along Sheffield Beach Road.

“These lanes will double the capacity on both the Sheffield and Salt Rock roads.”

Furthermore, he said discussions with SANRAL and the KZN transport department are also underway to look at the longer term impacts of the traffic that will be generated by new developments in Mount Richmore, Zululami, Tinley Manor South Bank and Nature’s Glen, the old crocodile farm.

Besides better traffic flow, Sheffield Square also brings many job opportunities to the community.

“About 200-300 construction jobs will be created in the short term and between 150-250 permanent jobs once the centre opens.”

Falkson said final anchor tenant discussions are currently underway, but people can expect a wide variety of shops including groceries, hardware, fashion, pet and health stores as well as restaurants and a drive-thru.

The first phase of the centre will cover 9500 square meters and construction is planned to start in early to mid 2016, with completion set for 2017.