The South African National Road Agency has proposed the construction of five toll gates for the highways linking Johannesburg and Pretoria.
A first phase of five toll gates is being planned for the highways linking Johannesburg and Pretoria. If the South African National Road Agency (Sanra) succeeds in its proposal, commuters travelling between Johannesburg and Pretoria could have a choice of two-lane toll road and two-lane highway by 2006.
The proposed upgrade, which was announced by the Gauteng Super Highways Consortium this week, is expected to cost between R1,2 billion and R1,5 billion to complete.
Project manager David Marx said the scheme would result in massive economic benefits, including the creation of 40 000 jobs (of which 83 per cent will be permanent) over a 30-year period.
Sanra chief executive Nazir Alli said: "This is only a proposal – many details have still to be worked out. If the project is approved, it will tie in with the proposed Gautrain project and with existing and proposed extensions to the road network."
About 140 000 motorists use the Ben Schoeman Highway between the two cities daily, and traffic jams are a regular occurrence.
Under the new proposal, an estimated 40 minutes could be saved during peak hours, reported on Friday. An additional half an hour could be saved as the new road would enable motorists to plan their travel time. Only sections – still to be identified – of the highway are to be converted into two-lane fast zones.
"Along these sections the two centre lanes would be the toll road and the outside lanes the ‘regular’ highway. Toll fees would vary, depending on traffic volume," Alli said.
Toll fees are currently calculated at 22c/km and 25c/km. At this tariff, motorists would be likely to pay between R6,60 and R7,50 for a one-way journey on a stretch of 30 km, reported.
