The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) says it has reached the halfway mark on its project to rehabilitate section 1 of the R75 in Port Elizabeth.

The R316 million project involves rehabilitating the previously poor condition of the road surface as well as improving pedestrian safety.  According to Sanral there are in excess of 4598 pedestrians making use of the road, 42% of them being school going children.

Protecting pedestrians

“The poor road condition prior to the rehabilitation required constant patchwork repairs. Pedestrian facility improvements are a major requirement of this project as pedestrian movements are largely uncontrolled and unsafe,” explains Mbulelo Peterson, SANRAL Southern Region Manager.

“In addition, this section of road has been recognised as having some of the highest pedestrian accident numbers in the Eastern Cape,” Peterson adds.

Due to the nature of the safety improvements required – namely improvements to both the interchange and pedestrian bridge positions – and, in order to expedite construction, the project was sub-divided into two phases:

Phases

Phase 1, which is currently in construction, consists of road rehabilitation and minor safety measures to improve pedestrian mobility and safety along the R75, one of the Nelson Mandela Bay’s primary arterial roads, between residential and industrial areas.

Phase 2, which is expected to be constructed in the next three years, will consist of an upgrade to the Commercial Road interchange and the construction of a pedestrian bridge. The scope of work for the project entails road rehabilitation works, drainage infrastructure and pedestrian safety and fencing and erecting guardrails.

Peterson notes that the implementation of road safety measures and rehabilitation of the National Route R75 Section 1 constitutes 13 kilometres and will create work for a minimum of 37 local SMMEs. This two-year project should be completed in May 2019.