Dual carriageway conversion for Joburg road

2nd March 2018 By: Megan van Wyngaardt - Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has developed a draft design for the future upgrading of Jan Smuts avenue to a dual carriageway from Northwold drive to Bolton drive and from Eighth avenue to Kent road, in Rosebank, to improve mobility and decrease congestion on the main arterial route.

The avenue, which carries around 3 500 vehicles in peak hours, has 18 intersections along its route that link the northern suburbs, including the wider Fourways area, to southern suburbs such as Braamfontein and the Johannesburg central business district (CBD).

Scope of Work The design for the estimated R87-million project follows a geotechnical study, a traffic count and an investigation of the existing stormwater infrastructure to determine the scope of work required for the upgrade.

The investigations took into consideration Jan Smuts avenue’s location within a densely populated urbanised area and the impact on the community and motorists travelling into and out of the Johannesburg CDB, as well as communities living adjacent to Jan Smuts avenue.

“The proposed upgrade also allows for the inclusion of planned bus rapid transit lanes as part of the city’s integrated transport network plan,” says City of Johannesburg Transport MMC Nonhlanhla Makhuba.

The JRA has now embarked on a consultative process with respective ward councillors and has planned engagement meetings with residents and business forums for their input, which includes discussions on heritage aspects and existing trees along the route.

Once all parties concerned have been engaged, the interim designs will be finalised and companies will be invited to tender for the construction works.