Bakwena has commenced with their planned upgrades to toll plazas along the Bakwena N1N4 highways. The upgrades are being implemented as a consequence of increased traffic volumes along the corridor and are aimed at increasing plaza capacity through the addition of new lanes at the plazas. Construction across all the Bakwena toll plazas will be completed by December 2017.
Bakwena Chief Executive Officer, Graeme Blewitt, says, ”The additional lanes will be worked on and completed with as little disruption as possible at the individual plazas, which means that the existing flow of traffic will be maintained or improved.”
The first plaza to benefit from the upgrade is Zambesi, where work has already started to create two extra lanes at the on/off ramps. From today, the extra wide lane on the onramp to the freeway has been closed in ordertoaccommodatetheupgrade.Theextrawidelaneontheofframpwillalsobewillbeclosedfrom17th March 2016. However, measures are in place to alleviate traffic congestion during the peak period between 06h00 and 07h30 at the on ramp and from 16h30 to 18h00 on the off ramp. Mondays to Fridays until midJune 2016. The upgrade to the plaza with the opening of the two new lanes is expected to take 3 months and the complete construction works is scheduled to be fully operational by end of October 2016
Once Zambesi is complete, Pumulani, Stormvoel, Doornpoort, Brits and Marikana will be the next plazas to beupgraded. These upgrades will see, two extra lanes at Pumulani and Doornpoort, one additional lane in each direction at Brits and Marikana plazas, and one lane at the on/off at Stormvoel plaza. Work has also started on the upgrade to the Wallmannsthal On Ramp to add an additional Class 1 ETC lane to alleviate the congestion during the morning peak. In the interim measures will be implemented to alleviate the current congestion.
“The planned investment value of the overall project is approximately R160 million over the two year period,” continues Blewitt. “The upgrade is expected to increase capacity at toll plazas for road users with or without etags, improving throughput during high traffic volume periods.
“We are confident that the upgrades will be completed according to the projected timetable, as we do not anticipate undue disruption. However, we ask that road users practice caution when approaching relevant toll plazas during the construction period,” concludes Blewitt.
Bakwena remains committed to providing a safe and pleasant travel experience of all road users on the N1N4.