After seven years of planning and two years of complex construction work, Capetonians are now able to use the newly completed Hospital Bend Interchange, which is greatly easing traffic flow to and from the central city.

The project – at a cost of R263 million (excluding VAT) – has become one of the City’s flagship infrastructure projects.

Planning began in 2001, and work started in October 2008. The result is the final phase of the upgrading of the N2 Freeway into Cape Town (with the emphasis on the section from Cape Town International Airport, linking the Southern Suburbs and Khayelitsha).

The main problem areas – resolved with this upgrade – were the traffic congestion on both the inbound and the outbound carriageways caused by extensive weaving or lane changes by vehicles.

An extensive planning process, including detailed traffic studies, evaluation of concept designs and extensive consultation with stakeholders over the years, resulted in this innovative proposal that made the most of the current infrastructure, with relatively minimal changes to it but with substantial improvements to traffic capacity and safety. The main feature is the pre-selection scheme concept, which allows motorists to select their destinations in advance of Hospital Bend.

Updated landscaping beautifies the Interchange, with new lawn, indigenous renosterveldt shrub and groundcover, new sloped embankments and 260 new trees. 

Route diagrams:

• Inbound route diagram
• Outbound route diagram 

Construction progress
(Click on thumbnail to view larger image) 

March 2010	March 2010
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2 November 2009	2 November 2009	2 November 2009	2 November 2009
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26 May 2009	26 May 2009	26 May 2009	26 May 2009
26 May 2009	26 May 2009	1 April 2009	1 April 2009
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24 Feb 2009	24 Feb 2009	20 Feb 2009	23 Jan 2009
18 Dec 2008	18 Dec 2008	18 Dec 2008	18 Dec 2008
18 Dec 2008	9 Dec 2008	9 Dec 2008	9 Dec 2008
Click here to view more images of the construction progress.