Commuters can expect minimal inconvenience as construction on the Rea Vaya Phase 1C route starts this month. Most construction will take place at night, leaving roads clear for daytime traffic.
Construction on the new Rea Vaya 1C trunk route kicked off this March.
The new trunk route starts at the corner of Empire and Victoria avenues, proceeds left at Empire and Clarendon roads and traverses Louis Botha Avenue (which becomes Pretoria Main Road) until the intersection of Lees Street and Pretoria Main Road in Wynberg.
Construction on the route will be undertaken in two phases:
- During Phase 1 (February 2014 – November 2014), the road pavement structure (two middle lanes of the existing road) will be constructed to meet Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) standards.
- During Phase 2 (November 2014 – October 2015), the road pavement structure of the outside lanes (to be used by private traffic) will be rehabilitated and construction on the non-motorised transport infrastructure (pedestrians and cyclists) will be completed.
NIGHT-TIME CONSTRUCTION WORK
The majority of construction work will take place at night, between 20h00 and 5h00 the next morning.
Almost all the road pavement strengthening for the BRT lanes will be undertaken at night. The contractor will excavate the existing road layers for a planned length of road (typically 100 m) and have the asphalt replaced by the start of peak hour traffic the next morning. The road will be returned to normal operation during the following day.
There are several advantages to this approach:
- Access to businesses and properties is not affected during normal working hours and special provisions will be made for access to properties after hours.
- Traffic congestion during otherwise lengthy periods of construction is substantially reduced.
- Public transport services are not disrupted during normal hours.
The overnight construction will work over one night per area. Special consideration will be given in the construction plan for school and other community events that will require the full capacity of the road.
All construction activities will take place behind yellow construction barriers and traffic signage will be set up to inform the public of the construction.
Motorists are advised to exercise caution when driving along the construction site as a speed limit of 40 km/hr applies. During the day, flag people will assist with directing traffic.
During construction some right turns will be limited because of the work being done in the middle of the road. Where this happens, there will be sufficient road signage indicating alternative routes. The diversions will be aligned to particular construction activities for each night of construction.
The construction will be completed by December 2016 and the City of Johannesburg is prioritising minimising inconvenience to commuters.