NATIONAL NEWS - Good progress is being made on a R138 million Western Cape Department of Infrastructure (DOI) project to undertake periodic maintenance on a 21km stretch of Du Toitskloof Pass between Paarl and Rawsonville.
The project is scheduled to be completed in December 2025.
“The R101, better known as du Toitskloof Pass, which links Paarl to Rawsonville was closed to traffic on 1 September 2025 and was scheduled to reopen at the end of October 2025 under traffic accommodation”, said Jandré Bakker, DOI’s Director: Operational Support.
“Due to an incident in the Huguenot Tunnel, we had to halt certain works to allow traffic to traverse the pass as an alternative to the N1. Once the tunnel was reopened, we could close the pass again to continue works, but this has set back our planned reopening date to 10 November 2025. Road users should factor this into their travel plans”, he continued.
“The scope of the project includes asphalt overlays, sealing cracks, repairing ruts larger than 10mm, stabilising the embankment at one point, rehabilitating six major culverts, repairing retaining walls, repairing edge breaks, patching, constructing edge beams, clearing drainage structures, building subsoil drains, building concrete-lined side drains, and repairing and replacing concrete slabs in the tunnel.
"Appurtenant works include replacing road studs, markings, road signage, guard rails and fencing, rehabilitating road shoulders, and replacing edge beams”, Bakker continued.
“The project has created 127 short-term work opportunities and 9 000 person-days of work”, said Mr. Tertuis Simmers, Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure.
“An amount of R11.2 million has been spent so far on procuring goods and services from targeted enterprises, and eight local enterprises have participated in the project so far”, he continued.
“In tight fiscal circumstances, we need to ensure that our infrastructure lifespan is increased and one mechanism to achieve this is through a rigorous preventative, routine and periodic maintenance regime. This project is an example of such periodic maintenance which allows a road to last longer before needing a full replacement and assists in our aim to balance the construction of new routes, upgrading where the circumstances require it and maintaining what we have,” Minister Simmers concluded.
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