Busy Ntambanana route a nightmare
The planned upgrade to the P700 corridor which is suppose to take place in January is still not off the ground.
THE upgrade of the Ntambanana main route, which was due to commence on 1 January, has still not begun, despite past assurances of priority.
Authorities from the Department of Transport now remain uncommitted as to when construction of the P700 corridor will actually begin.
Over the past three years, the busy bus route has become almost inaccessible, especially during rainy weather.
A trip on Tuesday revealed the shocking state of the gravel road as vehicles tried to cross deep trenches of water while avoiding heaps of stones lying partially on the road.
Chairperson of the SA Roads Federation: Zululand Region, Jogie Naidoo, said the proposed plan by the KZN Department of Transport (DOT), involved 58kms of single carriageway between Mthonjaneni and the Empangeni Bypass.
This would form part of the P700 corridor and would be the first section receiving the planned improvements.
The proposal further incorporated three interchanges and two road-over-rail bridges with an estimated cost of R3.3-billion.
The first phase of the project, which was due to start in January, involved resurfacing the road from Ntambanana through to Heatonville with a completion time frame of roughly 15 months.
This 10km stretch of road would widen to 11 metres with two lanes and 13 metres for three lanes.
The second phase, named the Empangeni Bypass, would incorporate 17kms of dual carriageway with three interchanges and five major structures.
The estimated cost was R2.1-billion, but construction funding had not yet been committed.
Preliminary design and environmental approvals have been submitted to secure the land requirements in the interim.
However, Naidoo was unable to confirm when DOT would start phase one of the construction or what had caused the subsequent delays.
KZN DOT spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane told the Zululand Observer he was unsure if the upgrade had begun or whether the contract had been awarded.
Despite numerous calls, more detail on the road development was not forthcoming at the time of going to print.
