The roads infrastructure connecting Africa’s largest inland port – the City Deep Freight Hub – will undergo a major overhaul according to the City of Johannesburg.

The Member of the Mayoral Committee for Transport, Christine Walters says the Johannesburg Roads Agency, in partnership with the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport, will jointly invest R122-million in massive infrastructure upgrades, new developments and accelerated expansions of the roads leading to the terminal.

The investment is over and above the R900-million that state-owned logistics and rail entity Transnet will spend over the next few years on the freight terminal.

The Transnet upgrade will result in the modernisation of the inland container terminal to handle increased volumes of operations

Invaluable investment

The City Deep Freight Hub is a key forwarding and clearing hub of goods to the rest of Africa and is connected by major rail and road infrastructure links. However, these existing links have limited capacities.

“This is an invaluable investment to ensure the largest container depot in the country runs optimally,” says Walters.

“The roads upgrades and expansions will increase the efficiency and decrease the cost of containerised cargo moving in and out of the city by ensuring a better flow of freight traffic and linkages with national highways.”

Interrelated roads infrastructure projects

Mpho Kau, JRA’s Head for Infrastructure Development, says the roads upgrade programme will include several interrelated roads infrastructure projects along links leading to the terminal.

Projects that are currently in the final stage of design are the widening of Rosherville Road and the Rosherville Road Bridge, the extension of Bonsmara Road and the development of the Cleveland Road Bridge.

According to Kau investigations into the extension of Houer Street as well as the development of new links or ramps to the N17, which will ensure increased mobility to and from the terminal and freeway, are almost completed.

“We anticipate construction on these projects to commence later in the financial year,” says Kau. The projects are implemented in partnership with the South African National Roads Agency Limited.

–Joburg.org.za