The construction of William Nicol Drive road which was upgraded at an estimated cost of US$32.24m was recently opened for use by the Premier for Gauteng, David Makhura and MEC for Roads and Transport, Ismail Vadi.
The road was upgraded from a single carriageway to a triple carriage in a move to improve access to Diepsloot, Fourways, Randburg and Tshwane.
The old Jukskei River Bridge was replaced with two others while a new interchange was constructed near Erling Street with the Boulevard fourways beings upgraded too.
According to Vadi, the constructed South African road needed to be upgraded given the high traffic it faces in order to ease movement in the region which is a focal point of extensive human settlement development.
Vadi also noted that it’s important that the road reflects the Government’s Policy of shifting to complete streets which allow cycling and pedestrian lanes. This will be a reflection of it move to promote safe, non-motorized transportation.
Upgrading the road would also help improve pedestrian traffic safety which will in turn increase motorists usage of the road. Parking bays for busses and taxis have been constructed on focal points on the road.
Steyn City Development funded one third of the multi-million rand project while went to Gautengd Department of Roads and Transport budget.
178 people were employed during the construction period of which 109 of them came from the local community after receiving training on courses such as first aid, firefighting, anti-waste management and traffic incident investigation.
The second phase of the project which is poised to ease transport in South Africa will be done on the William Nicol Drive linking N14 to freeway will be launched in this financial year.
