Traffic flow in the Mount Edgecombe area has improved significantly since the upgraded 4-lane Flanders Drive M41 Bridge was recently opened.

The new bridge and interchange, which links Mount Edgecombe to the Cornubia Business Hub, has effectively doubled the number of lanes crossing the M41 as well as enhanced access and egress to and from it.

It has been designed to handle the increased traffic that will be attracted to the greater Cornubia Development and specifically the business hub.

“This key infrastructure development will prove invaluable to the businesses in Cornubia, such as MMI where some 900 jobs have been created,” explains Selemo Sefehle, Project Manager – Business Hub, uMhlanga Hills, Marshall Dam and Blackburn Village for Tongaat Hulett Developments. “The upgrade provides for increased access to these new precincts that will form part of the new greater Cornubia Development.”

Improved travel times

Travellers using Flanders Drive should now find improved travel times where the new ramps and traffic signals should improve the traffic flow through the interchange.

Where M41 travellers are used to the significant back up of traffic from the N2 Mount Edgecombe interchange around peak traffic times, once the adjacent upgrade of the N2/Mount Edgecombe Interchange is completed, the traffic congestion on the M41 will be eliminated with the free flow of traffic through it.

Bright future ahead

“Some of the internal roads have been planned for further widening to provide further access through the precincts as the development expands,” Sefehle notes.

The R280 million project, which is the third of its kind aimed at giving easy access into the development, was co-funded by the eThekwini Municipality and Tongaat Hulett.

“The benefits of this development are already being felt, but as the Cornubia precinct continues to grow and develop, the advantages will be experienced for many years to come,” Sefehle concludes.