Jo'burg - Pretoria toll highway plan moves closer

Anna Cox THE TOLLING of certain lanes of the Ben Schoeman highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria has moved one step closer. The draft scoping report for the proposed Johannesburg Pretoria toll road corridor, known as the SuperHighways (CORR) project, has been released and a series of public meetings will be held until October 5. Fears have however been expressed that heavy vehicles will not use the express lanes because of the high toll fees and will cause further congestion on the already over-congested highway. The project envisages increasing the capacity of the N1, N3, R21 and R24 by constructing extra lanes along certain sections of these highways and tolling only certain lanes as express lanes, giving motorists the option of travelling on tolled or untolled lanes. Expected toll fees will be between R8 and R25 according to the time of day. The scoping report contains a detailed description of the proposed project. Once stakeholders have lodged their objections and concerns, the report will be submitted to the National Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism and to the provincial Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs for formal consideration. The draft scoping report will be available at several public libraries until October 25. The Ben Schoeman, between Buccleuch and Brakfontein, currently carries 140 000 vehicles a day. The most congested section, between Buccleuch and Allandale, carries 150 000 a day.