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Construction work on the N1 south at Matoks should have been completed by 30 April this year, but due to the theft of critical components a new completion date had to be set. Photo supplied.

New completion date for N1/Matoks road works

 

The completion date for road works on the N1 south at Matoks has been extended yet again.

The current construction work at Matoks entails the building of two pedestrian bridges and a main vehicle bridge over the N1, as well as a 1,9km service road. A section of the N1, a distance of 1,5km to be exact, will also be upgraded after the main construction of the bridges. This construction is part of the strategy of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) to safeguard the local community at Botlokwa.

The project was supposed to be completed on 3 February this year. In March this year, however, SANRAL indicated that the new completion date for the project was 30 April. This was due to an increased amount of earthworks, additional erosion protection, the lining of open canals and disruption by the Botlokwa community.

Despite the new 30 April completion date, SANRAL was asked again why the project had not been completed yet. It would seem that the Botlokwa community was to blame once more. “The new completion date is mid-June 2017, because of the theft of connections required for the pedestrian bridge B0208, which require a month to be manufactured,” said project manager Tshidi Lethale.

Motorists will thus have to endure the inconvenience caused by the construction work a little longer. Those who wish to avoid this detour are advised to take the R36 to Morobeng (Soekmekaar) and then turning onto the R81 to Polokwane. Those travelling further south should also take note of delays caused by roadworks on the R71 in Polokwane. This is the road that passes the Peter Mokaba stadium and joins up with the N1 south again.

In the meantime, road users are reminded of SANRAL’s road closures on the N1 south of Polokwane as from 29 May. This follows the commencement of construction of new over- and underpass bridge structures. Temporary deviations are in place to avoid the bridge-construction sites. The project is said to take about 12 months.

A short temporary bypass with bi-directional traffic (one lane per direction) will be in operation next to the existing N1 at the Weighbridge (not in use at this stage) to construct the Hotel Bridge Overpass. Traffic will flow as normal from north to south but be restricted to one lane per direction (currently two lanes per direction). 

As for the N1 south-bound overpass (the new Par-Clo interchange at the R37), traffic will be diverted from the existing N1 onto the newly constructed Ramps C and D at the N1/R37 intersection. A new intersection with traffic lights will be installed approximately 100m east of the existing traffic signal at the R37/Ramp C/Ramp D intersection. As soon as traffic is diverted onto the newly constructed Ramps C and D, construction of the new N1 south-bound overpass will commence.  Traffic flow will continue as normal to the north and south through the deviation.

 

Date:09 June 2017

By: Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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