Toll road to link Maputo and KZN
2011-02-21 13:35

Durban - Plans are well underway for the construction of a toll road which will link Maputo and northern KwaZulu-Natal, which will cut travel time dramatically, a Mozambique official said.

“The government of Mozambique wants to make sure that the road is completed at the end of 2014. It will be a toll road,” Nuno Mapossa of the Investment Promotion Centre in Mozambique told Sapa.

There is currently no tarred road linking southern Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal. There is currently a 130km dirt road which forces motorists to travel more than two hours from the Kosi Bay border post to Maputo.

The other route to Mozambique is through Golela border post which goes via Swaziland.

Mapossa said a bridge would be needed in the Maputo Bay during the construction of the toll road.

Source (http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Toll-road-to-link-Maputo-and-KZN-20110221)

This could well be one to keep a close eye on. From the KZN side, the R22 runs from the N2 at Hluhluwe to Kosi Bay, so that part of the link is sorted already (I've never driven on that road, so no idea what condition its in). Most of the construction would be on the Mozambique side; apparently there's nothing there. (I'm guessing that the tolls would be on the other side of the border, although SANRAL does look after the R22, and... we all know where that may head.)

If it goes ahead, would be great for traffic between Moz and KZN - currently has to go through (or around) Swaziland. There's a fair bit of leisure traffic from KZN that has holidays in Moz that this would be beneficial to - not sure as to the business/trade case though (although there must be one for this to be considered).

this would be nice....:applause:

This could well be one to keep a close eye on. From the KZN side, the R22 runs from the N2 at Hluhluwe to Kosi Bay, so that part of the link is sorted already (I've never driven on that road, so no idea what condition its in). Most of the construction would be on the Mozambique side; apparently there's nothing there. (I'm guessing that the tolls would be on the other side of the border, although SANRAL does look after the R22, and... we all know where that may head.)

If it goes ahead, would be great for traffic between Moz and KZN - currently has to go through (or around) Swaziland. There's a fair bit of leisure traffic from KZN that has holidays in Moz that this would be beneficial to - not sure as to the business/trade case though (although there must be one for this to be considered).

The R22 is in tip top condition.

The R22 is in tip top condition.

Knowing SANRAL, they'll build one interchange on it so they can claim it needs to be tolled thereafter. :ohno:

Good news, just want SANRAL to take a chill-pill on charging extra wherever they can... they're like the freekin' Asphalt-Mafia!

The KZN government have stated publically that they will not allow SANRAL to toll any existing roads in the future, so SANRAL will have a massive fight to do so

^^ In related developments; heard word from PG-WC Dept. of Transport and Public Works, they will NOT allow the Winelands Toll concessionaire to proceed without concrete toll costing guarantees and further economic impact studies, to avoid the disaster that has befallen Gauteng.

Seems SANRAL has dug their own graves by embarking on draconian "existing road tolling" for the last 15 years. Regionally, they're being thwarted.

Big up KZN and WC for standing up to the asphalt mafia. :)

I can understand why there is strong opposition against the tolls, heck who wants to pay more in addition to our high fuel price?

The problem is, SANRAL will never be able to undertake other large scale upgrades without tolling, due to the enormous costs which run into billions.

They need to get that money from somewhere, and it comes through loans which need to be paid back. They have to find money to repay these loans. Toll is the only option really, as I am pretty sure SANRAL do not smell a single cent of the fuel levy that is supposed to be used for roads. So really, unless the government drastically changes their budgeting allocations, it is toll or no major upgrades ever again.

the problem i not tolling, it is tolling of existing roads. some form of tolling can be included in new road developments, but milking people on existing roads is a sham, especially when kzn is the most tolled province already - this might change now with the gauteng open road tolling. the wc are off very lightly in terms of tolling and it would be hard for them to stay away from tolls going forward on new roads

I'm just worried, if they based the loan repayments for Gauteng's highways on Toll income, cancelling this could have a ripple effect to their other projects.

They will need to pay the loan back somehow; this may result in SANRAL pulling the funds from all their other projects to pay the banks back.

For example, they might cancel all of Durban's planned upgrades in order to divert the allocated funds to pay off Gauteng's roads. That would be extremely unfair to us non-Gautengers if our budget allocation is instead used to subsidise the almighty Gauteng, and in turn we are left with nothing, not even table scraps, in the way of maintenance or new works.

So you can see where I am coming from, the proposed Toll rates for Gauteng is unfair and shocking, but I am more worried if we end up on the short end of the stick if this toll proposal is cancelled:(

^^Good points

Pravin Gordhan has raised the fuel levy again by R0.10, in addition to the global crises in oil supply and price hikes. I am utterly appalled. If SANRAL wants to implement "user-pays principal," lower the fuel levy! This levy is almost becoming just like sin-tax. "We don't know where to increase, so we'll increase that." What makes it worse, is it's not a ring-fenced tax.

I also have no issue with tolling new infrastructure... I also am disgusted by slapping tolls on existing roads to justify their maintenance and upgrading. Greenfields projects can be tolled, not infrastructure people have been traveling on and relying on for years for free (well, not free, paid for by taxes).

Example: Build the Wild Coast Toll Highway, but toll the new sections, not the existing KZN sections who will see NO additional benefit.

Do not think the Gauteng scheme will ever end up free. We may see the max tolling rate being 50c/km like originally mooted; with discounts taking it down to around 40c/km.

Toll road to link KZN and Mozambique
Monday, 28 Feb 2011

A Mozambican official said that plans are afoot to build a new toll road linking Maputo in Mozambique with northern KwaZulu Natal.

Nuno Mapossa of the Investment Promotion Centre in Mozambique said the toll road had the blessing of the Mozambique government which wanted it completed by the end of 2014.

At present there is no all weather road linking KZN directly with Mozambique despite there being a common border and popular beaches and extensive game parks. Motorists wanting to make the journey to and from Maputo have to travel via Swaziland or alternately via the Ressano Garcia / Komatipoort border crossing which makes for an even longer journey.

A 130 kilometers dirt road connects the Mozambique capital with the border near Ponto do Ouro, with an equally long and poor quality dirt road on the South African side of the border which connects with the N-2 road which runs from Durban to the Golela border crossing with Swaziland. There has been no confirmation of this report from the South African side.


http://www.steelguru.com/international_news/Toll_road_to_link_KZN_and_Mozambique/193468.html

Would be bloody brilliant if they did this...

Yeah thats right, I recall that most vehicles take the N2 and then take MR8 in Pongola all the way to Lomahasha, the MR8 has been recently upgraded to three lanes between Golela and Big Bend. But its a crucial business route because its lies in the sugar industry corridor which surrounds the N2 and MR8 from Durban to Moz.

This could well be one to keep a close eye on. From the KZN side, the R22 runs from the N2 at Hluhluwe to Kosi Bay, so that part of the link is sorted already (I've never driven on that road, so no idea what condition its in). Most of the construction would be on the Mozambique side; apparently there's nothing there. (I'm guessing that the tolls would be on the other side of the border, although SANRAL does look after the R22, and... we all know where that may head.)

If it goes ahead, would be great for traffic between Moz and KZN - currently has to go through (or around) Swaziland. There's a fair bit of leisure traffic from KZN that has holidays in Moz that this would be beneficial to - not sure as to the business/trade case though (although there must be one for this to be considered).