Most of the road construction industry will shut down operations on December 15 and resume on January 10, although some projects will continue during the holiday period.

As the holidays are fast approaching, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) urges motorists to rest, ensure their vehicles are roadworthy, obey speed limits, look out for pedestrians and be patient in areas where roadworks are continuing.

Stop-go controls will be in place for some projects during the holiday period, including on the R37, near Lydenburg, the R33, outside Vaal Water in the northern region, and on the R355 and R342, between Addo and Nguni River Lodge, in the Eastern Cape. Travelling from Addo to Paterson will take up to 25 minutes longer.

“For the N3 upgrades, a minimum of two lanes per direction will be maintained,” says Sanral Eastern Region design and construction manager Ravi Ronny.

At the N3 Town Hill project. in Pietermaritzburg, a minimum of two lanes are open in each direction, although the team will aim to have three lanes open on the southbound side. Work will continue for a short period during the holiday.

On the N4 between Kaalrug and Komatipoort and between the Tchumene and Xai-Xai Interchanges, in Mozambique, routine road maintenance grass cutting and painting of road markings will take place.

The N2 between Grahamstown and the Fish river has speed restrictions in place for patching work that is expected to continue throughout the holiday period.

Similarly, there will be ongoing patching throughout the holiday period on the N2 between Swellendam and Riversdale and a short portion east of Wilderness, in the Western Cape.

“Repairing and maintaining the pavement is essential to road safety, and we apologise for the inconvenience of stop-go traffic accommodation and will try to minimise the impact on traffic flow,” says Sanral Western Region manager Randall Cable.