A new toll road is to be built on the road from Bloemfontein to Kroonstad. This means the entire route between Bloemfontein and Johannesburg will have toll roads.
A new toll road is to be built on the road from Bloemfontein to Kroonstad. This means the entire route between Bloemfontein and Johannesburg will have toll roads.
According to news, the Lejweleputswa District Council says the toll road will help revive the economies of four towns in the Free State Goldfields. The council says the towns used to rely on mining, but can no longer do this.
But some business owners are concerned that were not consulted about the toll road. They are also worried that their businesses will suffer. Some of the small businesses along the route fear that travellers will chose a different route to avoid the toll road.
In the Cape, a group of Overberg councillors are protesting plans to set up a toll road on the N2 highway between Cape Town and Bot River.
The plan is to set up three toll roads on the N1 and N2 highways in the Western Cape. There would be three toll roads on each highway. This would take place on a 66 km stretch from the R300 to Bot River near Grabouw and along a 104 km stretch of the N1 between the Old Oak interchange and Sandhills near Worcester.
The group says the plan will badly affect tourism in towns such as Hermanus, Kleinmond and Gansbaai. “Most of the towns in our region are tourist destinations and a toll road system would definitely affect the industry,” ANC councillor Theo Olivier told the .
He also said that the toll road seemed to be a way to generate income for the maintenance of the road and did not agree with the system. “There are other ways of maintaining our roads. These include a fuel levy, which is simple and efficient and, because of low collection costs, is preferable,” Olivier said.
CARtoday.com reported last month that two more ramp toll plazas would open near Pretoria in July.
The SA National Roads Agency said that toll fees would be payable at the Walmannstall and Murrayhill ramp plazas, north of Pretoria, from July 9.
In addition, the first phase of five toll gates is being planned for the highways linking Johannesburg and Pretoria.
In terms of the scheme, five toll expressways will be built on Johannesburg’s Western Bypass, the Eastern Bypass around Johannesburg International Airport, the Ben Schoeman Highway, the Pretoria Eastern Bypass, and the R21 airport freeway.
