THE South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) on Friday announced that around R1.4-billion will be spent on upgrading the N2 between Empangeni and Mtunzini.
Further development will also occur in the shape of two interchanges at Eteza and Kwabhoboza.
The announcement by SANRAL KZN Eastern Regions manager Logashri Sewnarain comes in the wake of a fatal crash on the N2 near bridge D, which left one man dead.
The area has become a hotspot over recent years, with many crashes occurring on the same stretch of road.
‘SANRAL has developed a tool called Netsafe,’ she said.
‘Netsafe assesses and quantifies road safety risk as a function of specific road features and the road environment.
‘SANRAL is also implementing various measures to reduce the chances of serious injury or death resulting from road crashes.’
Kim Phillips, a resident of Mtunzini who travels to Empangeni and Richards Bay on a regular basis, told the Zululand Observer that when it rains, she refuses to drive on the N2 due to the dangerous conditions created by water gathering in puddles in certain areas, especially in the Bridge D area around 15 km from Empangeni.
‘I don’t know what can be done. In the past 10 years I have been living in Mtunzini, there have been at least eight deaths that I know of at that exact spot,’ she said.
‘When you drive the road regularly, you know that there is a dip there where a puddle forms, and we always slow right down driving there.’
She says there have been many more accidents there, as she notices workers replacing the guard rail on a regular basis.
‘Fortunately, not all have been fatal.’
Richards Bay resident, Standley Shandu, recounted one occasion when he witnessed an Audi R8 hit the same puddle, aquaplane and spin out of control.
‘Fortunately for the driver there was no oncoming traffic and he didn’t hit the barrier,’ said Shandu.
‘But I have seen many accidents here, and heard more people talking about it. What is being done? Why are people still dying there?’
The N3 between Pietermaritzburg and Durban will also see a major upgrade worth around R15-billion.
Two and three lanes will be added, resulting in an eight to 10-lane freeway over a distance of 84km, this will also include the upgrade of 27 interchanges and 95 over- and underpasses along the way.
Of much relief to motorists however, was the announcement by Sewnarain that no plans existed to include new tolls or e-tolls in KZN.
