Construction work in the Crocodile Gorge is still in progress, and will continue for the next 10 months.
According to the toll road operators, TRACN4, the road is situated in a mountainous area which is quite wavy and has a steep longitudinal grade. The combined effect is a speed reduction for trucks - with no passing opportunities for cars within stop/go areas. Unfortunately the unstable mountain side and the steep drop to the Crocodile River do not allow space to build and provide bypasses next to road sections which are being rehabilitated.
Around 13 000 vehicles (including a large number of trucks and taxi’s) use this section of the N4 route on a daily basis and the number of vehicles increases by more than 30% on Friday afternoons causing delays of up to 60 minutes at each Stop/Go control point between the hours of 15:00-21:00.
To aggravate the situation, there are no viable alternative road between the greater Nelspruit area and destinations to the east of the gorge.
