The N12 Southern Bypass is a section of the
Johannesburg Ring Road
The Johannesburg Ring Road is a set of freeways that circle the city of Johannesburg, South Africa and service the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The entire Ring Road is an e-toll highway (with open road tolling) and is appr ...
that forms a beltway around the city of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
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 ...
, as part of the
N12. The freeway was the last section of the Ring Road to be built, with the final section opening in 1986. As part of the old South African Freeways, It was initially called the N13. The entire Southern Bypass freeway is an
e-toll highway (with
open road tolling
Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The m ...
).
From the west, the Southern Bypass begins at the Diepkloof Interchange, where it splits from the
N1 freeway. It ends at the Elands Interchange, where it merges with the
N3 freeway to be cosigned with it on the
N3 Eastern Bypass northwards. The exits include the
M1 Uncle Charlie's Interchange (north eastbound only),
M17 Xavier Street,
M7 Kliprivier Drive,
M11 Comaro Road,
R59 Reading Interchange, and
R103/
M31 Voortrekker Road (
Alberton).
The N12 Southern Bypass, which cuts a concrete swath through the rocky hills of
southern Johannesburg, is apparently very reminiscent of the freeways of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and together with Johannesburg's sunshine, renders a real
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
feel to that part of the city.
Background
As with the
N1 Western Bypass
The Western Bypass is a section of the N1 and the Johannesburg Ring Road located in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Known at the time as the ''Concrete Highway'', the freeway was initially opened in 1975 as a route to avoid the city cen ...
, the freeway was built with concrete between Reading and Diepkloof and has always been three lanes wide in either direction, fanning out into four lanes at Reading. The freeway passes through a declared
green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...
area to the south of Johannesburg, which has prevented the construction of
billboards
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
along the roadside, a common practice in the city.
References
{{Johannesburg freeways
Streets and roads of Johannesburg
Johannesburg Ring Road