Name and Location
N1/N2 Winelands toll highway project, Western Cape, South Africa.

Client
South African National Roads Authority Limited (Sanral).

Project Description
The project encompasses 105 km of the N1 highway between Cape Town and Worcester and a 70 km of the N2 between Bot river and Cape Town.

The toll-highway project will include the construction and upgrade of roads and associated infrastructure on certain portions of the N1 between the R300 and Sandhills, and on the N2, in the Western Cape; the construction and upgrade of portions of the road; the upgrade of the second bore of the Huguenot tunnel; the construction of toll plazas between the R300 and the Bot river; and the construction of the new, closed ‘cut-and-cover’ tunnel alignment through Helderzicht, extending west from the Danie Ackerman primary school to the Victoria street interchange.

In 2003, the project was granted environmental authorisation and was gazetted as a toll road in 2008.

Value
As the project is a 30-year concession, Sanral has proposed to develop it through a public–private partnership.

The concessionaire will finance the construction, maintenance and operation through toll collection and will be required to hand over the road to Sanral after this time.

The overall cost of the project is estimated at R10-billion.

Duration
The concession contract for the proposed project will be for a 30-year period. It comprises the upgrade work on the N1 and N2 during an initial construction period of about three years and the upgrade, maintenance and operation of the road for the remaining 27 years.

The initial construction works will take three years to complete. The operation and maintenance period for the public–private partnership project is expected to start in 2015, running to 2042.

Latest Developments
The Western Cape High Court will hear a Sanral application on August 4 for information about the proposed N1/N2 Winelands toll highway project to be kept secret, the City of Cape Town has said.

The application will be heard behind closed doors.

In May last year, the high court granted the City of Cape Town, which is opposing the project, an interim interdict, preventing Sanral from implementing or advancing the toll project, including the conclusion of any contract or start of construction.

The interdict remains in force until the city's application is finalised. The city wants Sanral's declaration of the project and the selection of the preferred bidder to be reviewed and set aside.

On August 4, Sanral is expected to argue that the city should not be allowed to file its supplementary papers, which are part of the broader application, as a public record.

According to mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron, the papers contain information about the cost of the project, the expected socioeconomic impact of the tolls and what the proposed toll fees will be spent on.

Herron has said that if the ruling is in favour of Sanral, information of great public importance about the proposed tolling of these roads and the construction thereof (to be funded by public money), will be withheld from the public. However, if the ruling is in favour of the City of Cape Town, the public disclosure of this information will go ahead, as the matter will then be argued in an open court.

Asked for comment, Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona has said that matter is currently in court and Sanral respected the sub judice principle.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Group Five, Basil Read, Bouygues Construction (lead construction partners).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sanral, Kobus van der Walt, tel +27 21 975 4600 or email Waltjc@nra.co.za; or project manager Tiago Massingue, tel +27 21 957 4627, fax +27 21 946 1630 or email massinguet@nra.co.za.
Group Five, tel +27 11 806 0241, fax +27 11 803 5829 or email scoventry@groupfive.co.za.
Basil Read, tel +27 11 418 6300 or fax +27 11 418 6333.
Bouygues Construction, tel +33 1 3060 3300, fax +33 1 3060 4861 or email bouygues-construction.com.