It's not a punitive measure,
writes Anna Cox
UP TO 18% of trucks using the N3 from Johannesburg to Durban are turning off the road to use alternative routes just before toll plazas to avoid paying toll fees.
Chief executive officer of the N3TC Toll Concession, Tim Ivins, said this would end once construction work on the road was finished.
There would be no escape route for trucks as all alternative routes would be tolled.
This is not a punitive measure - the trucks are using large sections of the road and then getting off just to avoid paying and it cannot continue.
They are using the road and they therefore have
to pay as we have huge capital and maintenance costs, he said.
Most alternative routes were not designed to carry heavy trucks and this, besides the damage being done by the trucks to these secondary roads, which Government could not afford, was causing all sorts of hazards to the local communities living along these routes, he said.
Ivins said many trucking companies were encouraging their drivers to avoid the plazas, trying to save money. In other cases, the drivers were simply pocketing the toll fee money to supplement their salaries, he said.
Plazas to be constructed on the N3 will be at Keeversfontein, which will be known as the Tugela East ramps and at the Bergville interchange to be known as the Bergville ramps. These plazas will only be opened when the upgrades and rehabilitation on the Warden to Keeversfontein section, which includes the widening in the Harrismith vicinity, are complete. Traffic travelling to and from Ladysmith, not passing through the Tugela Plaza will be tolled for using the N3.
An additional main line plaza will be constructed at De Hoek, south of Heidelberg. It will come into operation when the Heidelberg to Villiers dual carriageway is completed and ready for use in about two years time.
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