DURBAN - CONSTRUCTION of a more than R560 million Kokstad Interchange and Traffic Control Centre on the N2 highway, is expected to begin in September.
This is according to the SA National Road Agency (Sanral), which also announced that the contract to do the work was awarded to H&I Construction last week.
The multimillion-rand N2 Kokstad Interchange is about 3km to the south of the town of Kokstad, said Sanral in a statement.
Mohamed Parak, Sanral’s Eastern Region project manager said that under this 33-month contract, a new three-span bridge over the N2 and its approach to fill the embankments would be constructed.
He said further construction work on the interchange included widening of the existing Koppieskraal River Bridge, the building of six new box culverts, and extension of one existing culvert and a new underpass.
According to Sanral, the project includes the construction of a new Traffic Control Centre (TCC) to house Kokstad-based members of the provincial Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI).
It also involves the realignment of the R56 towards Kokstad and the construction of a parallel service road to the R56.
It further said works related to the TCC and the R56, beyond the Sanral road reserve, are co-funded by the KZN Department of Transport.
“This project, which comes at a cost of about R563.50m, was necessitated by the poor levels of service at the existing N2/R56 at-grade intersection.
“The upgrade will separate the N2 and the R56, and increase capacity, while significantly improving the level of service for the next 30 years,” said Parak.
Parak added that at least R169m would be subcontracted to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), while more than R45m would be spent on local labour.
Sanral said that the proposed construction sequence would ensure that traffic would remain free-flowing in both directions.
No closures were envisaged, however, the work would be accommodated with some restrictions and with traffic control measures in place, said Sanral.
THE MERCURY