New lane opens at Zambezi Plaza, more upgrades coming

© Alem Omerovic – 123RF.com

“Following the August re-opening of the seventh lane, the upgrade at Zambezi will see two additional lanes being built at the on- and off-ramps, to compliment the recent upgrades to the interchange and approach roads, and introducing a double diverging interchange,” says Liam Clarke, commercial manager of Bakwena.

The Zambezi plaza is the first of the plazas to benefit from the R160-million in planned upgrades along the N1N4 route at the Zambezi, Pumulani, Stormvoël, Doornpoort, Brits and Marikana plazas. The roadworks are scheduled to run until December 2017. When completed, the upgrade will increase peak time capacity by up to 20% and to reduce delays by more than 20 minutes.

This will be good news for Montana Park Sinoville and Zambezi Country Estate residents who have increasingly been experiencing delays along Sefako Magatho Drive in the approach to the N1 highway during morning peak traffic. Afternoon peak congestion will also be alleviated.

“The upgrades were necessary due to increased traffic volumes along the corridor and are intended to increase plaza capacity along the route by the addition of new lanes at all our plazas. Construction began in March at Zambezi and the two new additional lanes and roadworks will be fully completed and operational by end-October 2016,” says Clarke.

Bakwena plans to move on to Pumulani, Stormvoël, Doornpoort, Brits and Marikana during the course of the upgrade project, with two extra lanes being added at the Pumulani and Doornpoort plazas, and one additional lane in each direction at the Brits and Marikana plazas, and one lane at the Stormvoël plaza on- and offramp.

Wallmannsthal onramp will also see the addition of another Class 1 electronic toll collection (ETC) lane to alleviate the congestion during the morning peak.