Relief in sight for some of Bayhead Road congestion

TERRY HUTSON
THERE’S GOOD news for road hauliers and others doing their business around Durban port’s Bayhead area. Construction has begun on a long overdue bridge that will provide easier access to the port. It’s no exaggeration to say that more than half of South Africa’s imports are probably transported along Bayhead Road’s four lanes, which get squeezed into an even narrower junction with South Coast Road and are finally squashed completely at Rossburgh Junction – one of the busiest road junctions in the country. Now the R127 million Khangela Bridge will extend Bayhead Road across to the Umbilo Road arterial and considerably ease the traffic congestion. Container hauliers in particular will sigh with relief as Bayhead Road carries almost all of the port’s road-hauled container traffic and much of its petro-chemical product. And that’s before the car terminal moves in. The contract for the seven-span bridge’s construction has been awarded to Steffanautti & Bressan and piling should commence in June, says company director Clive Reucassel. “The scope of works includes the construction of the seven-span Khangela Bridge from Bayhead to Sydney Roads across the Spoornet tracks feeding the Bayhead area, the M4 Southern Freeway and the electrified Metro Rail tracks into Durban,” he said. “Although the contract was awarded to start on February 19, there are numerous services to move before we can start the actual construction of the bridge. Piling is due to start during June, followed by pier and abutment construction, with the launch of the first carriageway of the bridge deck due to start in December 2007. The entire project is scheduled for completion in February 2009.” The bridge won’t however cure the problem of too many trucks arriving together for the container terminal. That requires a different solution with nothing much in sight.