Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi on Thursday launched Phase 2 of the Cedar Road upgrading project in Johannesburg valued at R87 million.

“The project involves the rehabilitation and widening of Cedar road on both sides to a dual carriageway and is expected to run over 11 months,” said Vadi.

The Roads and Transport department said that Cedar road formed part of the provincial road network and acted as an inter-urban collector of traffic for surrounding townships.

The road experiences a mixture of light and heavy vehicle traffic – primarily related to the transportation of building materials from the northern outskirts of Johannesburg.

“The area has seen significant residential development over the past 15 years such as the Steyn City development and further residential and business growth is expected to continue over the next few years,” said Vadi.

The MEC emphasised that the greater economic benefit for the area was the development opportunities the upgrading of Cedar Road will generate.

“Unattractive land tracts now look ready for development and we hope that the rehabilitation of this road will act as a catalyst for further development to take place,” Vadi said.

There are six main signalised intersections along the route, which includes two traffic signal sets that will be reconstructed to allow for the widening of the carriageways. Ramps and storm water systems will be upgraded.

The project is expected to improve traffic capacity, pavement integrity and promote black owned economic enterprise during the construction period.

Sub-contracting and SMME procurement was set at 40 percent of the contract price and R1 million had been set aside for skills training of local labour, the department said.

Vadi also announced that the department is planning Phase 3 of Cedar Road rehabilitation between Runnymead road and R114.