The days of Butterworth’s traffic congestion are numbered now that the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) has finally approved the construction of a long-awaited N2 bypass.
The news will be a welcome relief to many motorists who – depending on the time of the day – can spend up to 30 minutes crawling through the town’s CBD. But for many businesses along the route, who depend on the traffic, it is gloomy news indeed.
Approval for the bypass was announced by Mnquma mayor Baba Ganjana yesterday.
Addressing the Daily Dispatch/Mnquma Breakfast Briefing in Butterworth yesterday, Ganjana said council was still in discussions with Sanral as to which communities would be affected by the bypass. The bypass will skip the busy city centre completely.
“The approval of the N2 bypass in this area is an achievement. During the early and late hours of the day the transport is so congested in this area. The approval means that the transport will be flowing at all times.
“We have had the traffic congestion for a long time and it was something that the people of Butterworth were not happy about,” Ganjana said.
But Sanral, which is responsible for the construction and rehabilitation of national roads, still has to report back to the municipality on the results of the environmental impact assessment as to the exact route of the bypass. The municipality will then negotiate with households that will have to be relocated to make way for the road.
“We can’t negotiate with the families without ascertaining where the bypass will go,” Ganjana said.
When the bypass was first mooted a few years ago, it was proposed that the project would start at the Ndabakazi turnoff about 10km to the west of Butterworth, and link up with the N2 on the Dutywa side.
Ganjana delivered his last state of the municipality address (Soma) of the current term last week, when he indicated that the largest chunk of the municipal budget would go towards construction of new roads and rehabilitation of existing ones.
As the only mayor to have completed his term in Mnquma, Ganjana was praised yesterday for bringing stability to the politically volatile region. But he would not speculate on his future, saying only that his fate lay in the hands of the ANC.
The municipality will spend R57-million funded through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) – ring-fenced funds from the national government – to build 60km of new access roads, a sportsfield, community hall, and upgrade the taxi rank.
While the budget allocation has shrunk across all spheres of government, the municipality plans to reinvigorate its rates collection process – with government institutions alone owing R4.6-million – to boost coffers.
It only collected R12-million in rates in this financial year. — DDR
Sanral approves N2 bypass
The news will be a welcome relief to many motorists who – depending on the time of the day – can spend up to 30 minutes crawling through the town’s CBD. But for many businesses along the route, who depend on the traffic, it is gloomy news indeed.
Approval for the bypass was announced by Mnquma mayor Baba Ganjana yesterday.
Addressing the Daily Dispatch/Mnquma Breakfast Briefing in Butterworth yesterday, Ganjana said council was still in discussions with Sanral as to which communities would be affected by the bypass. The bypass will skip the busy city centre completely.
“The approval of the N2 bypass in this area is an achievement. During the early and late hours of the day the transport is so congested in this area. The approval means that the transport will be flowing at all times.
“We have had the traffic congestion for a long time and it was something that the people of Butterworth were not happy about,” Ganjana said.
But Sanral, which is responsible for the construction and rehabilitation of national roads, still has to report back to the municipality on the results of the environmental impact assessment as to the exact route of the bypass. The municipality will then negotiate with households that will have to be relocated to make way for the road.
“We can’t negotiate with the families without ascertaining where the bypass will go,” Ganjana said.
When the bypass was first mooted a few years ago, it was proposed that the project would start at the Ndabakazi turnoff about 10km to the west of Butterworth, and link up with the N2 on the Dutywa side.
Ganjana delivered his last state of the municipality address (Soma) of the current term last week, when he indicated that the largest chunk of the municipal budget would go towards construction of new roads and rehabilitation of existing ones.
As the only mayor to have completed his term in Mnquma, Ganjana was praised yesterday for bringing stability to the politically volatile region. But he would not speculate on his future, saying only that his fate lay in the hands of the ANC.
The municipality will spend R57-million funded through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) – ring-fenced funds from the national government – to build 60km of new access roads, a sportsfield, community hall, and upgrade the taxi rank.
While the budget allocation has shrunk across all spheres of government, the municipality plans to reinvigorate its rates collection process – with government institutions alone owing R4.6-million – to boost coffers.
It only collected R12-million in rates in this financial year. — DDR
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