N4 (South Africa)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

National route N4 shield
National route N4
A2 at the Botswana border near Lobatse
Major intersections N1 in Pretoria
N12 in eMalahleni
N11 near Middelburg
East endEN4 EN4 at the Mozambican border near Ressano Garcia
Location
CountrySouth Africa
ProvincesNorth West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga
Major cities
Highway system
  • Numbered routes of South Africa
← N3→ N5
The N4 road westbound near Middelburg, Mpumalanga
R556 road near Modderspruit in North West
.

The N4 is a

national route in South Africa that runs from Skilpadshek on the Botswana border, past Rustenburg, Pretoria, eMalahleni and Mbombela, to Komatipoort on the Mozambique border. The entire route is a toll road.[1]

The N4 west of Pretoria, named the Platinum Highway, forms the South African section of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, which runs from Walvis Bay to Pretoria, while the N4 east of Pretoria forms the Maputo Corridor, which runs from Pretoria to Maputo. Together, they link the east and west coasts of Southern Africa.

The eastern section from Pretoria to Middelburg is a four-lane dual-carriageway tolled freeway opened in 1968, with toll gates at Donkerhoek and just west of Middelburg. The freeway from eMalahleni to Middelburg was one of the first concrete freeways built in South Africa and the Ultra City was the first service station built on the sides of a freeway. At eMalahleni (formerly Witbank), the freeway converges with the N12 from Johannesburg. An alternative route to the N4, known as the R104, runs between Pretoria and Wonderfontein (east of Middelburg). Between eMalahleni and Middelburg the alternative is the R555. After Wonderfontein the toll road runs along the old alignment of the N4 until the Lebombo Border Post. From Middelburg to Belfast the N4 is a single-carriageway highway with two lanes in both directions; thereafter, the N4 is a wide shouldered single-carriageway highway. The section east of Middelburg has been significantly improved, including a northern bypass of Mbombela,[2] and now features some new grade-separated junctions.

Route

North West

The entire section of the N4 in the North-West Province is known as the Platinum Highway and is part of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor.

The N4 route begins at the Skilpadshek Border Post with Botswana, where it is designated as the A2 road on the Botswana side towards Lobatse.[3]: 28  The border post on the Botswana side is known as Pioneer Gate. The N4 route begins by going south-east for 50 kilometres, through Dinokana and Lehurutshe, to reach a junction with the R49.[3]: 28 

The N4 and the R49 are cosigned north-east as one road into the CBD of the town of

river of the same name, through the Swartruggens Toll Plaza, to the town of Swartruggens, where it passes through the central part of the town as Andries Pretorius Street and meets the northern terminus of the R53 and R509 roads.[3]
: 28 

From the junction with the R509, the N4 goes eastwards for 45 kilometres, through Moedwil, to reach the town of Rustenburg.[3]: 29  Just before Rustenburg, the N4 meets the north-eastern terminus of the R52 road.[3]: 29  Just west of Rustenburg, the N4 meets the R104 (eastbound off-ramp only), which is a road that is an alternative to the N4 and is sometimes designated to roads that were previously part of the N4.

As the R104 provides access to the Rustenburg Central Business District, the N4 turns south-east and bypasses the city centre to the south, becoming a four-lane dual carriageway freeway. Adjacent to the Waterfall Mall of Rustenburg, the N4 meets the R24 road, which provides access to the cities of Magaliesburg, Krugersdorp and Johannesburg in the south-east.[3]: 29  From the R24 interchange, the N4 continues east-south-east for 6 kilometres to the town of Kroondal, where it meets the R104 road again.

From Kroondal, the N4 continues eastwards for 36 kilometres, encountering the

Brits in the north and the city of Randburg (part of Johannesburg) via the western side of the Hartbeespoort Dam in the south.[3]
: 29 

The N4 proceeds eastwards for 7 kilometres to reach an interchange with the R511 road, which provides access to the cities of Brits and Thabazimbi in the north and the city of Sandton (part of Johannesburg) via Hartbeespoort central to the south.[3]: 28  The N4 proceeds eastwards for 13 kilometres to encounter the Brits Toll Plaza and cross into the Gauteng Province just south of Ga-Rankuwa.[3]: 29 

Gauteng

The N4 enters the

Pretoria Bypass
.

From the Gauteng Province border, the N4 proceeds eastwards for 16 kilometres, becoming a four-lane dual carriageway, to reach an interchange with the R80 highway (Mabopane Highway), which connects Mabopane and Soshanguve in the north with Pretoria in the south. The N4 proceeds eastwards for 10 kilometres to meet the R566, which provides access to the Annlin Suburb and to Wonderboom Airport. The N4 continues for another 12 kilometres eastwards to reach an interchange with the N1 highway south of the N1's Pumulani Toll Plaza. The N4 encounters the Doornpoort Toll Plaza right before joining the N1.

From this interchange, the N1 and the N4 are cosigned southwards on the eastern section of the

Pretoria CBD and the road eastwards is the N4 proceeding towards Mpumalanga Province while the Pretoria Eastern Bypass remains designated as the N1 southwards towards Johannesburg. The Proefplaas Interchange, where the N4 leaves the Pretoria Eastern Bypass, marks the end of the N4 being known as the Platinum Highway. It also marks the end of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor. (The N4 now continues eastwrds as part of the Maputo Corridor
)

From the Proefplaas Interchange, the N4 goes eastwards for 48 kilometres, meeting the

Balmoral in Mpumalanga Province, where it meets the northern terminus of the R545 road
.

Mpumalanga

From Balmoral, the N4 proceeds eastwards for 25 kilometres to enter

Ermelo in the south.[3]
: 30 

From the N11 off-ramp, the N4 goes eastwards for 57 kilometres to meet the

Nelspruit (Mbombela).[3]: 30  It is followed by the Crocodile River from the R539 (Schoemanskloof Pass) junction about 16 kilometres after Ngodwana.[3]
: 30 

As the old road through Nelspruit Central is designated as the R104 (Samora Machel Drive), the N4 bypasses the city to the north on a newer highway (opened on 13 June 2010[2]), crossing to the northern side of the parallel Crocodile River, passing by Riverside (where it meets the R37), before joining the old alignment east of the city and crossing back to the south of the Crocodile River. From Mbombela, the N4 continues eastwards for 100 kilometres, following the Crocodile River (which makes up the entire southern border of the Kruger National Park), meeting the north-eastern terminus of the R38 road at Kaapmuiden and passing by the Nkomazi Toll Plaza just east of Kaapmuiden, through Malalane, to reach the Lebombo Border Post with Mozambique at Komatipoort, where it crosses the Komati River and becomes the road which provides access to Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique (EN4).[3]: 31  The border settlement on the Mozambique side is named Ressano Garcia.[3]: 31 

Alternative Route

The section from Rustenburg through Pretoria, Bronkhorstspruit, Witbank and Middelburg to Wonderfontein (approximately 50 km east of Middelburg) has a route running parallel to it, namely the R104 route.[1] It passes through the town centres of every town while the N4 Highway bypasses every town between Rustenburg and Wonderfontein. Only the alternative route between Witbank and Middelburg has a different designation (it forms part of the R555 route rather than the R104).[1] The R104 can be used to avoid the tollgates located on the N4 Highway between the mentioned towns.

As there is now a northern bypass in Mbombela (Nelspruit; opened on 13 June 2010[2]), the old route through the city centre (Samora Machel Drive; 17 km) has also been re-designated as the R104.[4][5]

History and developments

Prior to 1990, the N4 was the section from Mozambique to the Proefplaas Interchange with the N1.[6] However, two western sections of the N4 have been made since then:

Old Route through Pretoria

Originally the N4 ran through the Pretoria CBD on regular city streets, then exited the CBD westbound on Vom Hagen Street towards

Kosmos Village which has the R512
route number, and the two obvious deviations off the alignment at either end of the bridge where the N4 was clearly intended to continue onward.

Where the N4 used to run through Pretoria, this has been renamed the

M1 route of Pretoria (Es'kia Mphahlele Drive), the M4 stops being two one-way streets and becomes one road westwards named Vom Hagen Street. At the junction with the R55 route, Vom Hagen Street (M4) becomes the Magalies Toll Freeway and has the Quagga Toll Gate after this intersection.[7] It only has one off-ramp north of Atteridgeville and at the western end, it has the Pelindaba Toll Gate and it ends at an off-ramp t-junction, with the road northwards connecting to the R511 route to Hartbeespoort Central and the road southwards connecting to Pelindaba and Broederstroom (where the R512 Bridge over the Hartbeespoort Dam
's western edge is located). However, the N4 designation has not yet been removed from the Magalies Freeway itself (N4 may still be labelled on signage on the highway & M4 may show on signs off the highway). Also, some maps may still label the entire old route through Pretoria's central and western suburbs as the N4 together with the newer route.

New Route

At Proefplaas Interchange with the

Brits
. Three new grade-separated junctions were built before Rustenburg, as well as a new single-carriageway bypass of Rustenburg to the south of the town. Thereafter the N4 rejoins the old alignment of the R27 just west of Rustenburg, and passes along the R27 alignment through the towns of Swartruggens and Zeerust. Just west of Zeerust, the N4 turns northwest towards the Botswana border. The toll gates can be bypassed between Rustenburg and Pretoria by following the old Rustenburg Road, now the R104.

Extension of Old Route

See also: R512 (South Africa) § Pampoen Nek Pass

As an extension of the old route from Pretoria Central through the Hartbeespoort area to the west, a new freeway has been built and opened on the western side of the

Sun City and Rustenburg to proceed without having to interfere with the local traffic of Hartbeespoort.[8][9]

The Pampoen Nek Pass is an extension of the R512 route, starting from the R512's interchange with the R560 route (just after the R512 bridge crossing over the Hartbeespoort Dam's western edge west of Broederstroom) and going north for 6 kilometres up to the R512's interchange with the N4 south of Brits, where the Pampoen Nek Highway joins the N4 Westbound. So, for motorists heading for Sun City or Rustenburg (or the western side of Brits), this route will not only save substantial time for motorists travelling from the south of Hartbeespoort, but will also alleviate traffic congestion in Hartbeespoort, especially on the R511 route and the routes around Damdoryn.[9][10]

On 3 September 2020, the Minister of Transport,

M4 Freeway (Magalies Toll Route) to Pretoria.[10]
Road signs on the new road indicate that the Pampoen Nek Pass is designated as the R512 from the R560 interchange to the next off-ramp (where the R512 turns northwards towards Brits).

Although this route is an extension of the R512 route, it was constructed and is officially registered as part of National Route 4 Section 12,

Pretoria Bypass
) was constructed.

Operations

The N4 West

South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). They operate the entire route from Pretoria to the Skilpadshek border.[13][14]

The N4 East toll route (Maputo Corridor; east of Pretoria) is currently operated by Trans African Concessions (TRAC) under license from SANRAL. They operate the entire route from the M10 (Solomon Mahlangu Drive) off-ramp approximately 10 kilometres east of the Proefplaas Interchange to the Lebombo border.[15][16][17][18] TRAC also operates the short continuation of the road from the Lebombo border post to Maputo (EN4).[15][16][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Falkner, John (May 2012). South African Numbered Route Description and Destination Analysis (Report). National Department of Transport. pp. 16–17. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  2. ^
    hdl:10520/EJC45126
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-86809-800-2
    .
  4. ^ "Samora Machel Dr · Mbombela, South Africa". Samora Machel Dr · Mbombela, South Africa. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Way: Samora Machell Drive (52054626)". OpenStreetMap. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  6. ^ http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/sites/default/files/styles/adaptive/public/Department%20of%20Transport%20Map%20South%20Africa%201959.jpg?itok=TncXhikX [bare URL image file]
  7. ^ a b "M2 & Duncan Street to Beethoven Road & Tielmann Street". M2 & Duncan Street to Beethoven Road & Tielmann Street. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  8. ^ SANRALauthor. "The R512 is in harmony with nature". SANRAL Stop Over. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b "South African highways project at Hartbeespoort Dam set to relieve congestion". Highways Today. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  10. ^ a b DeonvanHuizen. "Pampoennek Road is open!". Kormorant. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Minister Fikile Mbalula: Opening of Pampoennek road in North West | South African Government". www.gov.za. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Pampoennek route open for business". issuu. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Home". Bakwena. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  14. ^ Venter, Irma. "Bakwena rolling out multibillion-rand upgrade on N1, N4". Engineering News. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Trans African Concessions". tracn4.co.za. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Tips for driving to Mozambique these holidays". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  17. ^ Cokayne, Roy (23 March 2023). "Outa's drive to expose 'excessive profits' on Sanral toll concessions delayed". Moneyweb. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  18. ^ a b trevorhlungwani (13 December 2016). "No construction on the N4 Toll Route this holiday season". Lowvelder. Retrieved 21 February 2024.

External links

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