Transnet says bypass road in Durban will ease truck congestion at port

Transnet says it is constructing a bypass road to ease the heavy congestion of trucks around Durban’s port after infrastructure was damaged by the April floods.

The traffic congestion has caused frustration on the roads and at one point affected emergency services attending to an incident in Bluff, south of Durban.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) said the bypass road is “an emergency response road infrastructure intervention to divert trucks from the then damaged Bayhead Road, subsequent to the disruptive KwaZulu-Natal floods that occurred in April of this year”.

“The bypass road ties in with the decongestion task team mandate, which seeks to decongest the port.”

Transnet said the bypass road is nearing completion.

“The road is about 1.6km long and is a unidirectional single carriageway consisting of two lanes towards Island View and the Durban container terminals,” said port engineer Malefetsane Setaka.

“The construction of the bypass road is one of the interventions to decongest the port. The teams continue to work tirelessly to mitigate the issues of congestion while maintaining an efficient port system.

“The Bayhead bypass road has been one of the projects that have cemented our commitment to ensuring fluidity in our port, responding to the demands of our industry.”

There are four canal crossings and two level crossings on the section of road. Fencing and street lighting have been included.

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