The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure (DOI) and its appointed professional team is making good progress on Louis Fourie Road in Mossel Bay. This R540 million project is the largest Provincial Government investment in road infrastructure in the Garden Route District. Works are on track and expected to be completed by the end of August 2026.
The project entails, the upgrading of just over 3.0km of road from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway including the upgrading of intersections, constructing a central median, realigning and upgrading the Langeberg Mall access road, rebuilding the on- and offramps to the N2, constructing a new bridge over the Blinde River, constructing a pedestrian walkway from Waboom Road to Sonskynvallei, a new bi-directional road under rail bridge on Garret Street and building a new road to link Garret Street with Gericke Street. Routine maintenance work on the existing surfacing either side of the upgrade for approximately 6.0km is also being undertaken as part of this project.
“The upgrade project has reached the stage where unfortunately additional inconvenience, particularly at the Langeberg Mall entrance on Louis Fourie Road, will be experienced by road users over the coming months. If all goes according to plan relief, while not fully, should be felt by the end of March at this point. The Project Team is affording all efforts to open additional lanes before the Easter weekend. Accommodating traffic at the Langeberg Mall intersection was always going to be one of the most critical pain points for road users because of the significant re-alignment work and pavement layer reconstruction that has to be undertaken here,” said Jandré Bakker, DOI Director of Operational Support. “One of the more notable reasons for inconvenience and delays at this intersection is the limited available road width for right turning movements in the vicinity of the new circle and the Mall entrance. We can confirm that the current traffic signal configuration is at its most optimal for this stage of construction. Observation have, however, indicated that a large number of the delays are due to poor driver behaviour which includes blocking of the intersection to gain an advantage over other motorists which adds to the challenge,” he continued.
“The work in the intersection at the mall will continue until end of March. Traffic flow at the intersection will then improve as two lanes will be available on the southbound leg of the intersection, and the outbound carriageway towards Aalwyndal will also be opened to traffic,” he added. Bakker further stated that: “Road users must please note that access to Via Appie is scheduled for reconstruction from the 7th of April for a period of two weeks, weather permitting. Traffic can use either Bally Crescent and/or Watson Avenue as alternative accesses where pointsman will be posted. We further advise that the final surfacing layer is being paved at the moment, which may cause short term (one day) disruptions at localized intersections”.
Bakker further shared: “Further key activities currently underway include the resurfacing of the road between Voor Bay and Hartenbos as well as the final road marking of all completed road surfaces. The resurfacing of the section between Voor Bay and Marsh Street is scheduled to start after the Easter weekend. If all goes according to plan, both carriageways will be opened to traffic between The Lofts and Bally Crescent (Suzuki) before the Easter weekend. The final surfacing layer on this section of road will be paved in half widths during the next month though”.
“According to the latest project programme the planned progress should be at 89% complete and we are currently at 85%,” said Tertuis Simmers, Provincial Minister of Infrastructure. “I am pleased to report that good progress is being made on the Blinde River Bridge as well as the pipe-jacking site at the George Road intersection where we are increasing storm water capacity in this area. While I have noted road user frustration with the ongoing roadworks, we have reached a stage where the general public are also seeing visible progress daily after having to endure many obstacles early on during construction, namely underground services that had not been accurately mapped, and replacing of ageing infrastructure to avoid building a new road over infrastructure that would need to be replaced within a few years,” Minister Simmers continued.
“To the last report date, which is end February 2026, the project had created 49 341 person-days of work allocated to targeted labour against a contract target of 58 000 person-days. This translates to 306 work opportunities created against a contract target of 250. To date, more than R89 million of the contract spending was on targeted enterprises which exceeds the contract target of R85 million significantly. Through the project we invested over R12 million on procurement from local enterprises. A total of R13 million has been spent on emerging contractor development and I look forward to seeing these numbers grow even more towards the completion of the project”, Minister Simmers added.
Inconvenience to road users
“We are well aware of the inconvenience of the roadworks to the travelling public both local road users and holiday makers to Mossel Bay”, said Minister Simmers.
“We remain confident that the long-term benefit of this road upgrade will outweigh the short-term inconvenience to road users and that the investment in infrastructure will unlock economic opportunities in Mossel Bay and surrounds”, he continued.
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