The long term Stop/Go at the Crocodile Gorge on the N4 between Nelspruit and Malalane is going to be replaced with a shorter daytime Stop/Go from mid-October.
Trans African Concessions (TRAC) begand construction of the gorge in April 2013 as part of it’s TRAC’s infrastructure development and maintenance responsibilities as concessionaire of the N4 between Tshwane, Gauteng and the Maputo Port in Mozambique. According to TRAC, this particular section of the N4 was in desperate need of structural improvement, including the reconstruction of the top 300mm layer of the road. Such an intensive reconstruction had to be done in sections of approximately six (6) kilometres which once broken up became non-trafficable thus forcing the implementation of the long-term Stop/Go. Although in such cases temporary traffic deviations would normally be effected this was impossible due to the complex topography of this part of the road – the Northern side of the mountain is unstable while the drop to the Crocodile River on the Southern side does not have space to provide bypasses. These constraints limited TRAC to providing a one-way traffic lane which at times has resulted in traffic delays. During peak traffic this one-way system results in longer queues and waiting times as it takes longer to drain the oncoming traffic through the construction area. This dilemma is further aggravated by the increase in the volume of heavy vehicles and in the event of a breakdown or accident within the construction area.
Although construction at the Crocodile Gorge was initially scheduled to be finished in the last quarter of this year, adverse weather conditions and other delaying factors caused interruptions resulting in the postponement of the completion date. The completion date has been rescheduled to 31 January 2015.
