Road upgrade boosts safety

THE recent announcement by the South African National Roads Agency that R1.4-billion is to be spent on upgrading the N2 between Mtunzini and Empangeni is most welcome – especially as it will apparently not involve further tolling.

This road carries a massive amount of traffic, much of it comprising heavy duty and commercial vehicles bearing loads between the major industrial hubs of Durban and Richards Bay, as well as from the hinterland.

Local business has often repeated the truism that ‘wealth does not create roads; roads create wealth’.

The N2 is also vital for tourism, connecting the region’s wildlife, heritage and recreational attractions to would-be visitors.

For locals, however, the most important factor arising from news of the N2 upgrade would be the issue of safety.

The stretch of road between Empangeni and Mtunzini is a nightmare, with a number of accident hot spots that regularly feature in tragic death crash reports.

The eSikhaleni/Unizulu off-ramp area is one such area, notorious for the puddles of water that form during rains and lead to vehicles aquaplaning out of control.

Poor lane allocation at Bridge D, where overtaking is permitted into the face of oncoming traffic, is another issue.

However, by far the biggest danger relates not to engineering shortcomings, but to driver error and contravention of road rules.

Head-on collisions are frequent on the N2 owing to illegal overtaking, as are accidents where drivers have made U-turns in the face of oncoming vehicles.

A double highway between Mtunzini and Empangeni, with a properly protected median, will at least eliminate these types of fatal incidents.

On the other hand, a new, big, open highway will lend itself to becoming a race track, so it is vital this route is regularly patrolled and monitored by speed cameras.