Pretoria - The construction of the on-ramp to the N14 from Rooihuiskraal Road was expected to resume at the beginning of the 2020/2021 financial year, Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo said.
The ramp was part of the multi-million rand project which included the construction of an additional lane on both the westbound and eastbound carriageways.
Also added was a new loop on-ramp to the eastbound carriageway from Rooihuiskraal Road and the N14/R114 Diepsloot interchange.
“Construction is planned to commence in the coming financial year, for a period of 10 months,” Mamabolo said. Mamabolo was responding to a question in the provincial legislature.
The partially completed on-ramp was expected to greatly help alleviate traffic in the area.
Construction of the ramp was halted in June 2018 because of a Rand Water water pipeline in its path. By then, only a few hundred metres separated the ramp from Rooihuiskraal Road.
In an earlier report, Rand Water had said the ramp not only posed a danger to the infrastructure, but would put lives at risk.
In early 2019, the department said a bridge would be built over the pipeline and that the outstanding work would be completed, but under a separate contract.
“At this time, the department is procuring a contractor to complete the work. This procurement process will only be completed in the fourth quarter of the 2019/2020 financial year,” Mamabolo’s spokesperson Theo Nkonki said.
At the time, the department estimated that the ramp would only be completed by the second quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year.
Last year, The Reeds, Thatchfield and Rooihuiskraal residents association members Tinus Lotz and Burnie Nawn expressed concern about traffic congestion at the intersection of Panorama and Rooihuiskraal roads.
They agreed that the completion of the ramp would greatly improve traffic at the intersection. The intersection had reportedly become a nightmare, particularly during peak hours.
Pretoria News