N1/N2 Winelands toll highway project, South Africa

12th June 2015

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

  

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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 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 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, and end in 2042.

Latest Developments
A clash of ideology between Sanral and the Democratic Alliance (DA) about the Winelands toll road project has resulted in their arguing about the impact it will have on the agriculture sector in the Western Cape.

“Once again, the DA got it plain wrong on the toll roads in and around Cape Town,” said national roads agency Sanral's CEO Nazir Alli.

The DA claims that the proposed Winelands toll road project will have devastating consequences, resulting in job losses and increased poverty in the agriculture sector.
Alli has said that this is a “misconception and incorrect”.
“The upgrades to the roads, the net savings and benefits to farmers are positive even after payment of the toll tariffs,” has said.

In response, DA provincial spokesperson Beverly Schäfer told Fin24 that Sanral was again trying to steamroll South Africans “by imposing toll roads on the poorest of the poor”.

Schäfer said on April 20 that the Western Cape would have to pay three times more than Gauteng residents to drive on the N1 and N2 in the Winelands, which Sanral slammed as “false”, saying that “the toll tariffs have not been set”.

Sanral claims that the DA and Schäfer’s view will result in a transport crisis in the Western Cape.

“It will place an enormous burden on the poorest of the poor, destroy jobs, hamper movement and cripple the regional economy,” Sanral has argued.

“Schäfer neglects to mention two important issues around tolls. First, most Cape Town commuters will not pay tolls. Second, there are many diversions around the two urban plazas.

“Without the upgrades, the cost of driving and transporting goods would be higher than with the upgraded and tolled roads. This will increase costs to all sectors of the Western Cape economy,” Ali has said.

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, tel +27 21 975 4600.
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.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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