The Mount Edgecombe Interchange, is a major

freeway interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

located between

Mount Edgecombe Mount Edgecombe or Mt Edgecombe is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, situated just north of Durban, which forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, eThekwini, the Greater Durban Metropolitan area. Much of the suburb is cordoned off a ...

and uMhlanga in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is the junction between the N2 and M41 freeways and underwent a major upgrade to relieve the increasing traffic congestion in the area.

Roads

The N2 is a national route running north–south from the

King Shaka International Airport King Shaka International Airport , abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport serving Durban, South Africa. It is located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately north of the city centre of Durban. The airport opened its doors ...

and

KwaDukuza KwaDukuza, previously known as Stanger, is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates towns such as Stanger, Ballito and Shakaskraal), but the Zulu people in the area called ...

towards

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

and

Port Shepstone Port Shepstone is a large town situated on the mouth of the Mzimkhulu River, the largest river on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. It is located halfway between Hibberdene and Margate, KwaZulu-Natal, Margate and is positioned 120&nbs ...

. The M41 is a metropolitan route running east–west from the M4 in uMhlanga towards the R102 between

and Phoenix.

Design

A key feature of the project is its two incrementally launched bridges: one, spanning 948 meters, connects the

side of the M41 to the N2 South and stands as the longest incrementally launched bridge in South Africa; the second, 440 meters long, links the uMhlanga side of the M41 to the N2 North.

Upgrade

Prior to the upgrade of the Mount Edgecombe Interchange, the interchange was a diamond interchange with traffic lights, and included a loop ramp connecting the M41 eastbound carriageway with the N2 South. The growth of the uMhlanga Ridge and La Lucia Ridge areas had pushed the existing diamond interchange to its capacity, resulting in traffic backing up on the M41 and spilling onto the N2 during peak hours. With around 40,000 additional vehicles joining or exiting the N2 from the M41 each day, significant queuing occurred throughout the day. Anticipated future development in Cornubia (north of

and west of uMhlanga) further emphasised the need to upgrade the interchange to enhance traffic flow between the N2, M41, and surrounding roads. To address the congestion issue at the interchange, the upgrade of the Mount Edgecombe Interchange began in April 2013 and involved converting the existing

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...

into a free-flow, four-level interchange. The project was funded through a collaboration between

SANRAL The South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd or SANRAL is a South African parastatal responsible for the management, maintenance and development of South Africa's proclaimed National Road network which includes many (but not all) National ("N" ...

and the

Department of Transport, with construction carried out by the South African branch of the Italian company CMC di Ravenna. On 30 October 2018, the upgraded interchange was officially opened by then

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

Blade Nzimande Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande (born 14 April 1958 in Edendale near Pietermaritzburg) is a South African politician, sociologist, and former anti-apartheid activist who is currently serving as Minister of Science, Technology and Innov ...

. With the conversion of the interchange to a completely free-flowing system with limited stops, it is expected that travel time between the areas the interchange connects will now be significantly reduced from 25 minutes to one minute on average.

References

{{Reflist N2 (South Africa) Road interchanges in South Africa