R103 (South Africa)
The R103 is a Regional Route in South Africa that is the designation for some of the old sections of roads that were previously the N3, prior to upgrading. It only has 3 sections, from the Hillcrest suburb of Durban to Ladysmith, from Warden to Villiers and from Heidelberg to Johannesburg.
Route
Kwazulu-Natal
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| Route information | ||||
| Length | 252 km (157 mi) | |||
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| South end | M13 near Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal | |||
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| North end |  | |||
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Numbered routes of South Africa
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Its first section begins as a junction with the M13 Highway in Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal (in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality; north-west of Durban; west of Kloof). The R103 begins as the Old Main Road and leaves Hillcrest in a roughly north-west direction and enters Cato Ridge from the east. In Cato Ridge, the road crosses the N3 at the 53 exit and then follows the south side of the N3, leaving the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, before recrossing the N3 freeway again at Camperdown. It follows the N3 towards the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, crisscrossing the freeway several times.
It enters the suburb of Scottsville in Pietermaritzburg from the south-east where at a T-junction it co-signs with the R56 and heads north through the suburb. The R56 breaks of to the east and the R103 leaves Scottsville crossing the Msunduzi River and heading north-west into the Pietermaritzburg CBD as its main road. Leaving the CBD, it continues into the suburb of Athlone. The road resumes following the N3 in a north-westerly direction passing through Hilton before reaching the outskirts of Howick. Crossing under the N3, it enters the suburbs of Howick and circles the town as an easterly ring road before reaching the N3 Junction 103 in the north close to the Midmar Dam. Leaving the N3, it heads in a north-westerly direction passing through Lions River, Ligetton West and Zenzani before turning north outside the town of Nottingham Road and heading towards the town of Mooi River.
Leaving Mooi River, the road heads north-east then, after a short distance, heads north-west, eventually crossing the Boesmans River and entering Estcourt from the east. It heads north through Estcourt as its main road before leaving the town towards the north-west. It then passes through Frere, crossing the Bloukrans River, before intersecting the R74 at a t-junction.
Co-signed with R74, it heads north-east and enters Colenso from the south, where its splits from the R74 which heads east. Bypassing Colenso to the west, it crosses the Tugela River heading north-west. Passing through Roosboom, it then turns north-east and enters the outskirts of Ladysmith, where it meets the N11 National Route and co-signs with it northwards for 2.5 kilometres before the N11 becomes its own road eastwards at an off-ramp. The R103 continues to bypass the town to its west. The R103 turns west, just south of the Windsor Dam and continues until it joins N3 at the Tugela East Toll Plaza, where a tolled on-ramp provides access to the N3. This marks the end of the first section.
Free State
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| Route information | ||||
| Length | 106 km (66 mi) | |||
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Numbered routes of South Africa
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The second section of the R103 begins north of Warden, at an intersection with the N3. The R103 heads in a north-easterly direction to meet the R34 west of Vrede. It now heads north-west, co-signed with the R34 for a short distance (15km) before the R34 becomes its own road westwards. Continuing north-west, the R103 passes Cornelia to its east before entering Villiers from the south. In Villers, the R103 reaches an intersection with the R26 and the N3, Just north of the N3 Villiers Toll Plaza. This marks the end of the second section of the R103.
Gauteng
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| Route information | ||||
| Length | 32 km (20 mi) | |||
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Numbered routes of South Africa
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The last section of the R103 begins north of Heidelberg. It starts at a junction with the R23, just next to the R23 and N3 Heidelberg North interchange. The R103 follows the N3 north-west (parallel) as the Old Heidelberg-Alberton Road, crossing the R550 soon after and entering the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. Near Vosloorus, it interchanges with the M35 Road (Germiston-Heidelberg Road) and M43/R21 Road (Barry Marais Road) and in Roodekop, the M53. The R103 briefly changes direction at a t-junction in Roodekop, south of Wadeville, Germiston, where it becomes part of the Nederveen Highway and is cosigned with the R554 westwards towards Alberton Central.
At the N3 Highway crossing, the R554/R103 Nederveen Highway changes its name to Heidelberg Road. At the Swartkoppies Road junction, the R554 becomes the road to the left (south) and the R103 remains on the westerly road, bending north towards the Alberton Central Business District and Johannesburg. From here, it is co-signed with the M31 Road of Johannesburg and becomes Ring Road West to pass through the western side of the Alberton CBD before becoming Voortrekker Street. At the junction with the N12 Highway (Johannesburg Ring Road) just after Alberton Central, The R103 designation ends and the road continuing northwards to Johannesburg Central remains designated as the M31 metropolitan road of Johannesburg.