The M18 road is a long metropolitan route in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It connects

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

with

Thembisa Thembisa, formerly Tembisa (Dindela), is a large township situated to the north of Kempton Park on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1957 when black people were resettled from Alexandra and other areas in Edenvale, Ke ...

via

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

and

Olifantsfontein Olifantsfontein, also known as Clayville, is a small town on the East Rand in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It is located at the north-western corner of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, just north of the Thembisa township. ...

. It is an alternative route to the R21 Freeway for travel between Pretoria and Thembisa.

Route

The M18 begins in

, just north of the city centre, at a junction with the two one-way streets of the M22 route (Boom Street & Bloed Street). It begins as two one-way streets (Thabo Semume Street, formerly Andries Street, southwards from the M22 and Bosman Street northwards to the M22), heading southwards. It meets the M4 road (Struben Street; Johannes Ramokhoase Street) before passing on either side of Church Square, where it meets the R104 Road (Helen Joseph Street; WF Nkomo Street). It then meets the M2 road (Nana Sita Street) and the M6 road (Visagie Street). At the junction with the M11 road (Jeff Masemola Street; Schieding Street), the M18 becomes one road south-south-east (no-longer one-way streets), becoming 3 lanes in each direction, to meet the southern terminus of the M3 road (Nelson Mandela Drive). The M18 becomes Nelson Mandela Drive southwards, being 4 lanes in each direction, and reaches a major junction north of Fountains Valley (known as Fountains Circle), where it meets the M7 road (George Storrar Drive), the southern terminus of the M5 road (Elandspoort Street) and the northern terminus of the R21 Road (which connects to O. R. Tambo International Airport). The M7 joins the M18 and they become one road south-west named Christina De Wit Avenue. After a kilometre, the M7 becomes its own road westwards while the M18 remains as Christina De Wit Avenue southwards to enter the city of

. It passes through the eastern suburb of Lyttelton as the main road (Botha Avenue), meeting the M10 road (Trichardt Road; connected via an access road) before meeting the M19 road (Cantonments Road; which connects to the Centurion City Centre). The M18 continues southwards to cross the N1 Highway (Danie Joubert Freeway; Pretoria Eastern Bypass) and pass through the suburb of

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...

, where it meets the M31 road (Nellmapius Drive). After the Irene suburb of Centurion, the M18 leaves the

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

and enters the

City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng. The municipality itself is a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. The name ''Ekurhuleni'' m ...

. It enters the town centre of Clayville (

) as Glen Road. Just south of the Clayville town centre (adjacent to Olifantsfontein Railway Station), the M18 leaves Glen Road and becomes South View Road westwards. At the next junction, the M18 becomes Industry Road southwards. It passes through Clayville Industrial before crossing the R562 Road (Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Road) as an underpass and leaving Olifantsfontein to enter the township of

. It bypasses Thembisa Hospital southwards as Reverend RTJ Namane Drive. In the Moriting suburb, the road curves to the west and reaches a junction with Andrew Mapheto Drive, where the M18 becomes Andrew Mapheto Drive towards the south-west. It passes through the Thembisa CBD as the main road before passing in-between the

Birch Acres Birch Acres is a suburb of Kempton Park, in Gauteng province, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch alon ...

suburb of Kempton Park and the Phomolong suburb of Thembisa. It then meets the southern terminus of the M38 road (Modderfontein Road) and reaches its end at the next junction, where it meets the M39 road (Chloorkop Road; Zuurfontein Avenue).

References

{{Reflist Metropolitan Routes in Pretoria