Kids take scary new short cut
Freeway an engineering feat
THE engineers have done their bit. The new Dumisani Makhaye Freeway provides a short cut to people in densely-populated Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu to Pinetown’s world of factories – and, in good times, jobs.
Bridges include a dramatic crossing of the Mgeni River at the bottom of a decline from Pinetown as the road heads towards wild bush and cliffs, as well as pedestrian bridges in high-density low-cost housing areas in KwaDabeka.
Now it’s time for pedestrians to adapt to the new engineering that has shaped their townships.
When The Independent on Saturday took a spin on the route that will also serve as a short cut for inland people heading for King Shaka International Airport, transport volumes still appeared to be low.
However, pedestrian traffic was high, among them very young schoolchildren, unsupervised and putting themselves at enormous risk.
Just 100m away from a pedestrian bridge over the freeway, a trio that appeared to be on their way home early from primary school heaved themselves up the concrete barriers that separate the lanes – the central one being for the Bus Rapid Transit system transport service.
They then jumped down into the Ntuzuma-bound lane before dashing across the lanes.
The alternative to the new freeway, dubbed the “outer, outer ringroad”, is a dog-leg up the N2, then turning on to the N3 at the EB Cloete Interchange.
The Dumisani Makhaye Freeway has few traffic lights on its route of just over 6km, and provides a short cut of 14km.
For inland motorists heading to the airport, it leads to the R102 and the N2, making the route 12km shorter. There are more frequent traffic lights where there are turn-offs to Ntuzuma, Inanda, Springfield Park, KwaMashu and Phoenix.
Work is still in progress at a bus hub at the Mgeni River crossing and had not been signposted on the N3 as the 12km short cut it will be to the airport for Highway and Pietermaritzburg-based motorists.
By the time of going to press, the provincial Department of Transport had not yet responded to questions around traffic volumes, pedestrian movement and signage.
The road is named after KwaMashu-born Struggle stalwart Dumisani Makhaye, who was a member of the ANC National Executive Council and of the Executive Council of Traditional Affairs, Local Government and Housing in KwaZulu-Natal. He died in 2004, aged 49.