M2 Highway closure: These routes will be affected for six weeks

Motorists are in for heavy traffic congestion after the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) announced the shutdown of the city’s busiest route – the M2 Highway – for six weeks.

The JRA said it committed more than R12 million towards the resurfacing of the M2 Highway.

M2 Highway maintenance

Affected areas

The three-pronged project will affect the M2 Motorway Eastbound, between Cleveland and Selby, to the south of Johannesburg’s CBD.

It said the M2 highway Eastbound will see two-lane closures at the Cleveland on/off-ramps while the M2 highway Westbound will see two-lane closures between New Goch Road and the Maritzburg off-ramp.

Meanwhile, the slow lanes and the hard shoulders on both sides of the carriageway will be shut down between 9am to 3pm, Mondays to Fridays.

The JRA said all other lanes will remain open, but motorists can expect a significant amount of congestion at peak times.

Promoting economic development

The JRA said the project is scheduled to be completed by 30 June 2022.

“The section of the M2 Motorway where the aforementioned road works will be conducted is located in the Cleveland suburb of Johannesburg in Region F.

“The three undertakings form part of the JRA Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and are also aligned to the City of Johannesburg (COJ) Mayoral Priority 1 which is intended to promote economic development through attracting investments that are envisaged to contribute 5% economic growth to the City’s economy”, the JRA said.

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The JRA said the identified routes were prioritised by its Road Asset Management System (RAMS)

“Planning Department after rigorous consultations with Regional Operations Depot Managers and other critical stakeholders as per the JRA’s Strategic Pillar Guidelines aimed at ensuring the assurance of services to the public.”

The JRA said upon completion of the project, a total number of 5.60 lane kilometres of roads would have been resurfaced.

The project’s scope includes kerbs, permanent road signs, sidewalks and drains which on many occasions become clogged and causes flooding on highways.

Exercise caution and patience

The JRA pleaded with motorists in Johannesbgurg to exercise patience during the road closures.

“Sectional road closures will be implemented on the shoulder lanes and slow lanes on both the aforementioned directions on the Motorway during roadworks. All other road lanes will be open to traffic. The resurfacing project is anticipated to be completed by the 30th of June 2022.”

“Motorists are urged to exercise caution and patience when approaching the roadworks sites to ensure their safety and that of the road workers. The JRA apologises for any inconvenience,” it said.

Last month, the JRA said it would no longer install, repair and maintain traffic signals on behalf of the provincial department in Gauteng after the duo could not reach consensus on a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that would have seen the agency continue to actively maintain and repair 231 signalised intersections on provincial roads across the City of Johannesburg.

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