R512 (South Africa)
The R512 is a Regional Route in South Africa that connects Brits, North West with Randburg, Gauteng (north of Johannesburg) via Hartbeespoort.
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Route
North West
Its northern origin is Brits, North West at an intersection with the R511 as Van Velden Street, becoming Rutgers Street, in a southerly direction. Just south of Brits, the R512 meets the R566 Road from Ga-Rankuwa.
Soon after crossing the N4 Platinum Highway, It meets, and is briefly co-signed eastwards with, the R104 from Mooinooi. Just after The Elephant Sanctuary of Hartbeespoort, as the R104 continues eastwards towards Hartbeespoort central, the R512 turns to the south-west, bypassing the Hartbeespoort Dam to the west, and it gives off the road to the south-westerly R560 Route. After meeting the R560, the R512 turns towards the south-east, crossing the Magalies River & turning eastwards by Arrows Rest, bypassing the Hartbeespoort Dam to the south, towards Broederstroom. The R512 makes a Z-shape around Hartbeespoort Dam.
After Broederstroom, near Pelindaba, by the Crocodile River, as the road eastwards connects to Pretoria, the R512 turns southwards, as Pelindaba Road, towards Johannesburg. Just after, the R512 crosses into Gauteng.
Gauteng
From Broederstroom, the R512 makes a 25km journey to Lanseria International Airport and the road then meets the R552 (6th Road), and forms and interchange with the N14 Highway between Pretoria and Krugersdorp.
After crossing the N14 highway and its old equivalent, the R114, it heads south towards Randburg, part of the Johannesburg Municipality, as Malibongwe Drive - formerly known as Hans Strijdom Drive. It passes through the lower-middle Cosmo City and Kya Sands townships before crossing the R564 Road (Witkoppen Road, Northumberland Avenue) and entering the more affluent Northriding and Olivedale suburbs. The R512 designation ends at an interchange with the N1 Highway (Johannesburg Western Bypass) (Johannesburg Ring Road), but Malibongwe Drive continues through Randburg to end north of the Johannesburg Botanical Garden.
Road upgrade
As of 2018, the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) is constructing a shortcut for the R512 Route, from its intersection with the north-eastern terminus of the R560 Route west of Broederstroom northwards up to just north of where the R512 and the R104 Route split west of The Elephant Sanctuary of Hartbeespoort, where there is a ramp onto the N4 Platinum Highway West, in a highway format. [1][2][3]
The junction with the R560 west of Hartbeespoort Dam is going to be an off-ramp junction and the next and last junction just north of the R104 and R512 junction west of the Elephant Sanctuary is also to be an off-ramp interchange.
It is being built to reduce the traffic that occurs on the current longer section of the R512, which is also labelled as a high accident zone.[4] It is also meant to be a shortcut and to reduce the distance for travelers using the R512 to either join the N4 Highway West to Rustenburg or to go to Brits, North West.[5] When the road is done, long distance movements will no longer interfere with local traffic.
It was scheduled to be completed in December 2019. Then, the scheduled date of completion was postponed to March 2020.
References
- http://pressoffice.mg.co.za/sanral/PressRelease.php?StoryID=286457
- https://stop-over.co.za/r512-harmony-nature/
- https://highways.today/2018/10/26/south-african-highways-project-hartbeespoort-dam/
- https://www.madibeng.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hartbeespoort-Area-Precinct-Plan_Part3.pdf
- https://highways.today/2018/10/26/south-african-highways-project-hartbeespoort-dam/