Should the proposed ring-roads be built by Sanral (South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd), Ladysmith will be totally isolated. Its status as a stop-over between Durban and Newcastle, and Vryheid and Dundee will be over. Motorists travelling on the N3 and R103 from Durban to Newcastle and Mpumalanga will be able to totally bypass Ladysmith. In exactly the same way, motorists travelling on the N3 and R103 can now do the same thing when traveling to Harrismith and Bloemfontein.

The proposed N11 ring-road does not, at face value, look like a ‘good thing’ for Ladysmith!

We, as a town, will be totally isolated, with no reason for motorists  to stop off here. One would expect those garages catering to out-of-town traffic to relocate, with maybe an Ultra City type set-up being built outside town?

This is what Sanral have to say:

LADYSMITH RING ROAD BEING EXPLORED

Pietermaritzburg, 28 August 2015. Optional routes around Ladysmith are being explored by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL) in an effort to cater for increased traffic volumes and to reduce the existing dangers faced by pedestrians and motorists. The traffic volumes currently using National Route N11 between the N3 highway and the N11 north of Ladysmith, (Section 2 km marker 10.0) have over the last number of years increased, thereby reducing its traffic carrying capacity. This is mainly due to the N11 passing through the town of Ladysmith, which in itself has shown an increase in local traffic.

SANRAL has identified the section of the N11 through Ladysmith as requiring realignment due to increased traffic volumes as well as conflict between motorised traffic and pedestrian movements. Several signalised crossings have also substantially reduced the level of service of the N11.

National Route 11 linking the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provides both a strategic link for freight movement as well as linking a number of municipalities between both provinces. It also provides a key link to the N3 between Durban and Gauteng, which forms part of Governments Strategic Integrated Project 2 (SIP2).

SANRAL which has the responsibility of providing long distance mobility and road safety for light and heavy vehicles which would include access to towns and cities along the way, has appointed consulting engineers AECOM SA (Pty) Ltd and Environmental Practitioners Terratest (Pty) Ltd to conduct a Route Options Study.

The study will include a Traffic Count and Origin/Destination Report and Environmental Screening Report. This will be followed by a Preliminary Design and full Environmental Impact Assessment to ensure environmental sensitive areas are taken into consideration and mitigated as necessary.

The investigation of optional routes will be done in conjunction with the Emnambithi Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, property owners and other role players such as the Chamber of Business and Farmers Association.

Public Partition Open Days will be arranged in the near future where the different route options will be displayed.

The map:

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