Durban — Except for concern about dust and noise from heavy-duty machines, residents of Cleland and Meadows suburbs in Pietermaritzburg have welcomed the widening of the N3 highway near their homes.

The construction would soon change the look and size of the N3, and allow vehicles to flow much more easily when passing the capital city. It would also make it easier for cargo trucks to access the nearby weighbridge and factories with less concern that they might veer and cause accidents.

The construction is part of the South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral) R53-billion project to upgrade the N3 in the Midlands and N2 on the coast.

Resident Norman Nel said the dust and noise from the heavy-duty machines and dust did not matter to him because that would be over when the construction was completed.

“We cannot stop them from building the N3. How can you stop them from creating dust?”

The project started in 2021 and was expected to be completed in eight to 10 years. Nel said he had attended several meetings to discuss the project.

“They said they were going to build a big wall (to separate the houses from N3), and the big wall means a lot to me,” he said.

Some residents were relocated after 17 homes were sold to Sanral to be demolished to open space for the development.

Eugene van Wyk said the demolition of the houses alongside the N3 on Hereford Circle in Cleland left his and his other neighbours’ homes exposed to crime. He said the demolished houses had high concrete fences, which prevented strangers from crossing the N3 and gaining access to the neighbourhood.

He hoped Sanral would honour its promise to build a new concrete fence to barricade his street from the highway.

He said since there would now be no houses between his house and the highway, his house would be devalued because “who would want to buy a house that is closer to the highway?”.

Local ratepayers association chairperson Maureen Govender said she was happy with the development, and Hereford Circle residents’ concern about whether the concrete fence would be built had been resolved.

“The road infrastructure needs to be improved, with businesses and factories built along the N3 resulting in more traffic. To accommodate all that traffic, there has to be an extension (of the N3),” she said.

She said the dust, which some people complained about, was “part and parcel of the extension, there is nothing you can do about it”.

Govender commended the construction company for communicating and listening to locals’ concerns.

“They tell us what is happening and they have security working here to prevent criminals from coming to this side,” she said.

Sanral’s Eastern Region project manager, Hugh Brooks, said the project, which currently covers almost 80km between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, would soon be extended to Mooi River.

“It aims to strengthen the logistics and transport corridor between South Africa’s main industrial hubs, improve access to Durban’s export and import facilities, and raise efficiency along the corridor,” said Brooks.

He said 16 houses had been demolished in Pietermaritzburg “with one more still to be demolished”.

“This excludes the future contract through Pietermaritzburg where the footprint of the future upgrade is still being finalised.

“The properties were bought at market-related prices in terms of a willing-buyer-willing seller,” said Brooks.

Independent on Saturday