N1 road closure

Western portion of the Old Oak Road Bridge to be demolished.

The N1 inbound between Old Oak Road and the R300 interchange will be closed from Friday May 12, from 7pm, until 5am on Monday May 15 for the demolition of the western portion of the Old Oak Road Bridge.

This forms part of the Department of Transport and Public Works project to extend the third lane on the N1 from west of Durban Road to beyond the Old Oak Interchange.

The department said demolition has been scheduled for a weekend to minimise disruption to traffic travelling along the N1.

The Old Oak crossing consists of two bridges, each carrying two lanes of traffic.

The western bridge (carrying northbound traffic) must be demolished and rebuilt to meet current clearance requirements and to make way for the new third lane. The eastern bridge (carrying southbound traffic) will remain in use.

The bridge will be dismantled using machine-mounted hydraulic breakers, scissors and shears. Still footage of the operation from freeway management system cameras will be updated every minute and can be viewed at www.i-traffic.co.za.

Traffic to the affected area will be directed along detours:

N1 outbound (north) to N1:

Exit at Old Oak interchange (Exit 25), left onto Eversdal Road, right onto De Bron Road (M73), right onto Okavango Road (M137), left onto N1.

N1 outbound (north) to R300:

Exit at Old Oak interchange (Exit 25), left onto Eversdal Road, right onto De Bron Road (M73), right onto Brackenfell Boulevard, right onto Old Paarl Road, left onto R300.

N1 inbound (south):

Travel onto R300 (south), exit at Bottelary Road Interchange (M23), right onto Bottelary Road, right onto R300 (north), take Old Paarl Road interchange (Exit 29), left onto Old Paarl Road (R101), right onto Old Oak Road, left onto N1.

On an average weekend, traffic on the affected section of the N1 often exceeds 45 000 vehicles a day.

The department said traffic diversions are expected to cause heavy congestion along detour routes.

Motorists who use the N1 to travel through the area are encouraged to avoid the road closure by using the greater freeway network. Eversdal Road will be changed into a one-way for the duration of the closure.

Once the demolition is complete, both the N1 and Old Oak Road will be reopened to traffic with the same number of lanes in both directions as before.