Since the N3 Toll Concession (N3TC) entered into a 30-year toll road concession contract with the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) in 1999, the main objective of the N3TC is still to ensure road safety on the N3 freeway from Heidelberg to Pietermaritzburg.

“Thousands of freight and logistics operators use the N3 toll route daily, with heavy vehicles constituting more than 30% of traffic on the route. This also means that an average of 58-million tons of freight is carried along the route every year,” says N3TC commercial manager Con Roux, adding that continuously improving road safety along the route is critical.

Measures to ensure that N3TC fulfils its mandate have been evident in the establishment of a 24-hour customer careline; dedicated route patrol services; and partnerships with emergency medical and rescue services, municipal law enforcement authorities, the South African Police Service and the road traffic inspectorate. The inspectorate makes up the road incident management strategy (Rims) for the route.

At the Heidelberg Traffic Control Centre (HTCC), N3TC has entered into a joint venture with development projects company Zimele Investment Enterprises, which handles the maintenance and operation of the HTCC.

“The prime objective of the HTCC is to monitor the load carried by heavy vehicles, such as trucks and buses, and sometimes taxis. “We work with the traffic officers who help us check the validity of the truck drivers and also weigh the load that every truck is carrying,” says Zimele Investment Enterprises CEO Fred Kleynhans.

Zimele Investment Enterprises is also a route management services company and started operating a vehicle testing system at the HTCC, which inspects heavy vehicles on the route that are faulty. The HTCC provides drivers with a facility to park their trucks at the centre and get them fixed before continuing their journey. Therefore, the dual-purpose control centre inspects the roadworthiness of trucks and allows drivers to rest for a while.

Kleynhans mentions that, on average, 8 000 to 11 000 heavy vehicles go through the HTCC and are inspected to ensure that they are roadworthy.

At its N3TC Route Control Centre at Van Reenen, Roux explains that, owing to the fire breaks and snow in the area, the company has implemented a Snow and Disaster Management Preparedness System that forms part of Rims.

On this part of the route, the route patrol services sweep the entire route four times a day to ensure that obstructions are cleared and the route is kept in a safe condition for road users.

“When it snows, we start our sweeps to try to clear as much snow as possible on the road,” explains N3TC Route Control Centre manager Annatjie van der Sandt.

She adds that the process has been made easier with the assistance of private-sector emergency vehicles.

Pleased with the partnerships that N3TC has formed with various departments and, organisations, from both the private and public enterprises, N3TC regional Rims manager Praveen Sunderlall says that the company has entered into a three-year partnership with the Mpofana municipality’s traffic department, which involves the monitoring of vehicles and traffic violations in the municipality.

“The partnership has been [ongoing] for about two years and three months, and has resulted in traffic officers working through the night, patrolling the area, which has caused motorists to behave and crime to decrease,” he explains.

Sunderlall believes that citizens obey the law when they are under surveillance and ignore it when they are not seen.