Plans afoot to upgrade major road

R67 repairs to be completed in 2018, say authorities

AMAJOR road in the Eastern Cape is set for a R226-million facelift in the new year. Repairs to the R67, which runs between Grahamstown and Fort Beaufort, are expected to take about 21 months.

The South African National Road Agency (Sanral) Southern Region manager Mbulelo Peterson, whose agency will implement the major project, said the resurfacing would begin next month and be completed by October 2018.

The stretch links various smaller towns in the middle section of the Eastern Cape.

Peterson said the length of road to be resurfaced was about 70.7km, extending northwards from the intersection with the N2 near Grahamstown to the intersection with the R63 at Fort Beaufort.

“Sanral has appointed a contractor to undertake what can be best be described as a ‘repair, patch and resurfacing’ contract. The road is being repaired where required, resurfaced, and new road markings and road studs will be installed.”

Peterson added that resurfacing projects included:

● District road to Committees Drift; ● District road to Glen Melville Dam; ● District road to Krans Drift; ● Entrance to Fort Brown police station; ● District road to Douglas Heights; and ● District road to Prieel. “The works are located within the boundaries of two district municipalities, namely Dr Beyers Naude district municipality and Amathole district municipality.

“The roadworks comprise pro-active preventative maintenance and will include but not be limited to accommodation of traffic, excavation, shaping and trimming of drainage, pavement repairing, pre-treatment/texture slurry, double seal resurfacing, ancillary works and surfacing of existing shoulders,” said Peterson.

He urged motorists to obey warning signs, reduce speed and exercise extreme caution while travelling through the construction work zones. —