M27 is a major road in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, 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#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

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 count ...

. A large part of the route is named

Jan Smuts Avenue Jan Smuts Avenue is a major street in Johannesburg, South Africa. It begins in Randburg, and passes through important business areas like Rosebank. It passes the Johannesburg Zoo, Zoo Lake and Wits University before becoming Bertha Street, ...

which is roughly 12 km long. It begins in the southern suburb of

Booysens Booysen is an Afrikaans surname, also spelled Booyze, Booyse and Booysens. It is related to the English language, English surname Boyce (disambiguation), Boyce and Boysen (disambiguation), Boysen in other Germanic languages. The ''Stamvader'' Boy ...

and heads northwards through the

Johannesburg CBD The Central Business District, commonly called Johannesburg CBD, is one of the main business centres of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the densest collection of skyscrapers in Africa, however, due to white flight and urban blight, many of the ...

and the northern suburbs of

Randburg Randburg is an area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly a separate municipality, its administration devolved to the newly created City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, along with neighbouring Sandton and Roodepoort, ...

Route

The M27 begins at the M1 Booysens Street Interchange as a number of off-ramps and heads northwards as Booysens Street through

, Ophirton and into

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

. In Selby, the M27 crosses under the

M2 motorway This is a list of roads designated M2: Europe * M2 motorway (Great Britain), a motorway in England * M2 expressway (Hungary), a motorway in Hungary * N2 road (Ireland)#M2 motorway, a motorway in the Republic of Ireland * M-2 highway (Monteneg ...

at the Village Road/Selby Interchange into the

. Here the route becomes one-way as Pixley Seme Street heading north through the city with Newtown to the west. The M27 as a southbound one-way road through the CBD is called Simmonds Street, starting at the Queen Elizabeth Bridge and runs through under the M2 where it joins Booysens Street. Leaving the CBD the road resumes being dual carriageway as it crosses the railway lines via the Queen Elizabeth Bridge as Queen Elizabeth Drive and into Braamfontein. Turning right, its joined by traffic crossing the

Nelson Mandela Bridge Nelson Mandela Bridge is a bridge in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the fourth of five bridges which cross the railway lines and sidings located just west of Johannesburg Park Station, the first being the Johan Rissik Bridge adjacent to ...

and its heads north through to the top of Braamfontein ridge as Bertha Street. The M27, now called

begins on Braamfontein's ridge as an extension northwards of Bertha Street at the intersection with Stiemens Street. It passes the East campus of the

University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

on its left and Helpmekaar Kollege on the right before descending into the leafy suburb of

Parktown Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Par ...

where it crosses over a major intersection, the M71 Empire Road. After crossing Empire Road, passes over the M1

De Villiers Graaff Sir De Villiers Graaff, 2nd Baronet, (8 December 1913 – 4 October 1999) (first name De Villiers, surname Graaff) known as Div Graaff, was a South African politician who succeeded his father, Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, 1st Baronet, ...

motorway again with several entrances and exits at this intersection. Leaving

, the road begins to drop as it descends Parktown Ridge through the hilly and leafy suburbs of

Westcliff Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

and Forest Town. As it enters Parkview, it passes through the Herman Eckstein Park, with the

Johannesburg Zoo The Johannesburg Zoo is a zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa. The zoo is dedicated to the accommodation, enrichment, husbandry, and medical care of wild animals, and houses about 2000 individuals of 320 species. Established in 1904, it has t ...

to the right and the left

Zoo Lake Zoo Lake is a popular lake and public park in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is part of the '' Hermann Eckstein Park'' and is opposite the Johannesburg Zoo. The Zoo Lake consists of two dams, an upper feeder dam, and a larger lower dam, both con ...

. Narrowing to single lanes in

Saxonwold Saxonwold is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated in what was once the Sachsenwald Forest in the early 20th century. It is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History The suburb ...

, Jan Smuts Avenue splits northwards at the Cotswold Drive ( R25) winding its way out of Saxonwold and into Parkwood. It resumes as a dual carriageway as it climbs into the retail suburb of Rosebank and leafy Parktown North before dropping down into Dunkeld West as a single carriageway. A short while later it resumes as a dual carriageway and passes through Hyde Park where at a major intersection close to the

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the j ...

shopping centre, the road splits north-west when it intersects the start of the M81 William Nicol Drive. It passes through

Craighall Craighall is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa and is bordered by Hyde Park, Dunkeld and Parkhurst. It sits in between the busy arterial routes of Jan Smuts Avenue and William Nicol highway and is located in Region B of the City of Johan ...

and Craighall Park crossing the Braamfontein Spruit. It then enters the old

suburbs of Blairgowrie and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

intersecting

Bram Fischer Drive Bram may refer to: People * Bram (given name) * Bram (surname) * Bram (wrestler) (born 1986), ring name of professional wrestler Thomas Raymond Latimer * Bram Tchaikovsky (born 1950), stage name of British musician Peter Bramall * Bram Stoker Iris ...

, Ferndale and where the M27 Jan Smuts Avenue ends.

References

{{Reflist Streets and roads of Johannesburg Metropolitan routes in Johannesburg