R61 Section 8 – Special Development Road Safety Project: Lessons Learnt Overview of Presentation

• Background • Safety Considerations • Project Status • Lessons learnt • Way Forward Background

• The (Section 1 to Section 8) was declared a national route in 2003. • R61 Section 1 starts at the WC Border continues to intersection at Aberdeen, then N9 north of Graaff Reinet, continues through at Cradock, then Queenstown, through and section 8 ending at Port St Johns. Included with the declaration of the WCTR was a short 20 km section between Ntafufu River & . • Through the former Transkei, statutory control regulations were not enforced and thus communities and towns were allowed to developed linearly along the R61 (Typical challenges associated with Ribbon development in Rural settlement areas). • This severely impacted the safety of the road users Background Background

• SANRAL appointed ITS Engineers in 2009 to conduct study into Practical Design Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities on Rural Higher Order Roads

• R61 Section 8 from Mthatha (km -2.1) to Port St Johns (km 70) and Ntafufu River to Lusikisiki was chosen as Case Study

• The study was conducted by means of a Desktop study, community meeting and interviews, visual inspections and traffic counts

• ITS Engineers recommended the upgrading of certain sections of the road to improve road safety conditions for pedestrians, non-motorised transport, local and through traffic. Background cont…..

• In 2010, based on the report, the SANRAL approved a Road Safety Project which aimed to reduce accidents by closing unsafe accesses, construction channelized intersections, grade separated intersections (interchanges), pedestrian and livestock underpasses and walkways.

• After a competitive tendering process, Goba (Pty) Ltd, now Hatch Africa, was appointed as the Consulting Engineers for the Special Development Projects on R61 from Mthatha to Lusikisiki. Safety Considerations

Community Characteristics  High unemployment  High poverty rate  50 – 60 % of the population relies on Government Grants  Low skills base  Female headed households  Under performing Local Municipalities  Location and access to schools (junior)  Lack of facilities – Public Transport, access roads, etc Safety Considerations – Typical Safety Issues Safety Considerations – Typical Safety Issues Safety Considerations – Typical Safety Issues Safety Considerations – Typical Safety Issues Safety Considerations – Safety interventions/ solutions

 Overpass (vehicular, agricultural and pedestrian)  Underpass (vehicular and agricultural)  Interchange  Dual carriageway  Taxi ranks  Closing of unsafe informal accesses  Formalising and upgrading of formal accesses  Community access roads – linking to formal accesses  Pedestrian walkways Safety Considerations

During Design Development, the improvement scope was defined and the project was divided into 11 Packages

1. Dualling Mthatha (km -2.6) to Ngqeleni Interchange (km 5) 2. Ngqeleni Int (km 5.7) to East (km 27) 3. Libode East to Mngazi River (km 75) 3A. Upgrade Majola Tea (km 51) to Tombo (km 66) 4. Tombo Dual carriageway & Modal Interchange (km 66 to 68) 5. Mafini to Mngazi – Community Development 6. Ntafufu to Lusikisiki – Reseal 7. Ntafufu to Lusikisiki - Conventional & Access Roads 8. St Barnabas Dual Carriageway & Modal Interchange 9. Corana River to Mafini – Community Development 10. Misty Mount to Mafini – Community Development Safety Considerations - Locality Plan Project Status - Brief R61: Mthatha (Sprigg Street) to Ngqeleni Turnoff (6 km)  Commencement date : 16 September 2013  Completion Date : 30 June 2017  Value : R400 million  Scope – New eastbound carriageway; upgrade westbound carriage – New bridges over the Mthatha River, Corana River and Sidwadweni River – Interchange at Ngqeleni Turnoff – Two agricultural underpasses; one pedestrian bridge – Relocate households and build new dwellings – Apply Cape Seal and asphalt at intersections 16 R61: SIDWADWENI RIVER BRIDGE AND DUALING OF R61

17 Ngqeleni Agricultural Overpass Bridge: B0235 R61: Ngqeleni Turnoff to Libode (15 km)

 Commencement Date : 28 March 2014  Completion Date : 19 September 2016  Value : R370million  Scope – Widening of sections of road – New cross section (passing lanes where required) – Interchange at Libode – Walkways and community service roads – Construct one vehicular overpass; one vehicular underpass and one pedestrian bridge 19 – Construct taxi bays Mt Nicolas Pedestrian Bridge: N0239 21 22 Side View Top View

23 R61: Libode East (Mount Nicholas) to Mngazi (28 km)

 Commencement Date : September 2016  Completion date : February 2019  Value : R375 million  Scope – Construction of bridges:  Mngazi River Bridge  Qiti Overpass Bridge  Qhaka Overpass Bridge – Construction of underpasses:  Gangata Agricultural underpass

 Kuleka Agricultural underpass 24 R61: Libode (Mount Nicholas) to Mngazi cont…. – Construction of underpasses:  Tutor Ndamase Agricultural underpass 1  Tutor Ndamase Agricultural underpass 2  Tutor Ndamase Agricultural underpass 3  Tutor Ndamase Agricultural underpass 4  Mnxabakazi Agricultural underpass  Umngazi Agricultural underpass

25 R61: Libode East (Mount Nicholas) to Mngazi cont…. – Widening of Intersections:  8x Intersections will be widened  6x Dangerous intersections will be closed – Community Development project:  Local SMME will be used to construct community access roads which will be used to channel traffic towards the new formalised intersections. – Relocation of services – ESKOM, Telkom, houses, etc

26 R61: Upgrade from Majola Tea – Tombo (15.5 km)  Commencement date: January 2015  Completion : April 2018  Value R535 million  Scope – Improved alignment at sharp curves – Widening of road with passing lanes where required – MSE walls at high fills – Upgrade or relocate intersections and accesses – Construct 3x agricultural underpasses and taxi rank - Majola Tea Junction 27 – Relocate numerous dwellings MSE Retaining Walls

28 Lessons Learnt

1. Road Safety Project Programme

• Identifies and reviews specific High risk locations

• Solutions or remedies are localised

• Solutions are isolated to a specific location and reduces risk at

location – warranted under special maintenance

• Improved LOS at location – Variable LOS or function along route

• Determine overall LOS or Function based on Project Type/ Scope

• Varying LOS across length - Driver Expectation reduced

• TRH 26 Route function classification – R2 or R3

• Holistic Approach – Driver behaviour Lessons Learnt

2. Typical Intersection Design

• No existing typical standard for Rural Settlement (Peri urban)

• Numerous discussion and lengthy debate, typical intersection layout agreed.

• Vehicular movement was prioritised – N2 WCTR planning (LOS)

• Typical standard - not always effective and relevant in varying situations or conditions

• NMT not prioritised sufficiently to mitigate risk

• VRU profile not adequately– Primary Scholars, elderly, etc

• Road classification – TRH 26 – R2 or R3 Lessons Learnt

2. Typical Intersection Design

• Prioritises safety related issues for motorised transport, e.g. capacity, geometric, accidents etc.

• NMT modes (pedestrians, bicycles, cart etc.) expected to fit in with the preferred solution for motorised transport - The pedestrian

desire lines sometime ignored – sight distance

• Such an approach does not adequately address the specific needs all road users especially the VRUs. Risk not adequately mitigated

• Therefore, a more holistic approach is required – Driver & pedestrian behaviour Lessons Learnt Intersection Design Lessons Learnt

3. Special Projects (Scope definition - Improvements)

• Economical – Desirable LOS/ Class based project type.

• Varying LOS – Driver expectation, links between intersection at lower LOS resulting in bottle necks

• Lack of safe overtaking – Encourage overtaking through

intersection – more conflict and dangerous

• Impractical LOS – Could limits future planning and improvements to existing alignment

• Fencing only along the improved section only – entire length should be considered Lessons Learnt

4. Pedestrian Bridge/ Grade separated structures

• Review warrants for grade separation in rural settlements areas

• Only used if at-grade and ease of access – prefer to grade separate the vehicles instead of the pedestrians

• Engineering & Planning design to facilitate pedestrian movement towards defined crossing area - Underpass

• Bridge must have canopy – Pedestrian Psychology - safer

• Must be wide enough to cater for Livestock & cyclist Lessons Learnt

5. Spatial Development & Town Planning

• Inform, educate and actively participate with informal settlement

development – traditional & local authorities

• Involvement in spatial development

• Coordinate & improve Access Management

• Allowance for Public Transport Management & NMT

• Work together with other spheres of government i.e. Education, Rural development and Local authorities

• TRH 26 consideration – Rural settlement areas (Not urban or

rural – Peri urban) Lessons Learnt

6. Statutory Control

• Improved and continues enforcement of regulation

• Limit future and closing of illegal and informal access,

• RRM need to maintain limited crossing points, by replacing fencing as and when it is vandalized for entry to the road reserve,

bush clearance & grass cutting, removal of litter

• Support and work together with local & traditional authorities

• Regulations to be reviewed - Rural settlements and locality

• Action taken against offenders Lessons Learnt

7. Road safety education & awareness campaigning

• Most scholars make use of community services (roads & walkways

• Occur more regularly and continuously to have impact

• Better coordination with all stakeholders incl internal

• Infiltrate schools – Life Orientation. Schools force scholars to make use of adequate pedestrian facilities.

• More coordinated effort required Lessons Learnt

8. Community development Projects

• Longitudinal service roads and pedestrian walkways are mostly being used

• Linking communities to formal access – significant improvement

• Added benefit – Opportunities for Small contractors, skills transfer, uplifting community, socio economic upliftment

• Walkways to graded in rolling/ hilly terrain

• Project – more inclusive - Holistic Way Forward

 SANRAL to regionally workshop lessons learnt and present findings to focus groups – RSE & Traffic & Transportation

 SANRAL to develop a standard for roads through rural settlement – case studies – Moloto rd, N2 Mthatha – Guideline for Public Transport on National Roads – Implement/ Pilot – Update Typical Drawings – (Various scenarios & conditions)

 Better Feasibility Planning – Overall LOS/ functioning determined before design development

 TRH 26 – Practical discussion on road classification through rural settlements – Staged implementation to retro-fitting Way Forward (Continued)

 Improve crash data - Earlier identify high accident locations and to measure the effectiveness of countermeasures  Road safety initiatives are complex problems to address  Require both hard and soft engineering solutions  Conventional solutions are generally not enough, creative solutions that deal specific social realities are required  The initiatives will need to be evaluated periodically to see if the social drivers and traffic demands are still relevant, and if not, then solutions need to be amended  Will ensure communities along the road benefit from project.  Continuously strive to adapt by utilising Lessons learnt  Create dedicated Road Safety Capacity within the industry – – Design Specialist – Road Safety Engineering THANK YOU

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