Sanral eastern region design and construction manager Ravi Ronny said that the strategy is needed because of the length and estimated cost of the upgrades.
The first N2/N3 construction package is now expected to be awarded by the end of 2019.
The upgrades will include the widening of the N2 and N3 carriageways to provide four or five lanes in each direction and the reconfiguration of most major interchanges along the sections of route.
The upgrades of the N2 and N3 in KwaZulu-Natal form part of a package of the national government’s key strategic projects, SIP2.
The upgrade of the N2 will focus on a 55km length of the route, from Lovu River on the South Coast, to Umdloti on the North Coast.
.png)
The N3 upgrade will focus on an 80km section from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
Upgrading of the N2 and N3 is expected to take between five to eight years. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently introduced a stimulus package as a new measure “to reignite growth, stimulate economic recovery and secure confidence in sectors affected by regulatory uncertainty and inconsistency”.
Projects earmarked for the stimulus package will be funded from the existing budget, with R50bn (£2.7bn) already identified by the government for infrastructure projects nationally. Sanral’s allocation from the total stimulus package is some R3.5bn, which will be used to initiate the SIP2 projects over the next two years.
Two N2 project packages and five N3 project packages, identified as critical areas, have been allocated stimulus funding.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
