N3 (South Africa)
The N3 is a national route in South Africa that connects Johannesburg and Durban, respectively South Africa's largest and third-largest cities. Johannesburg is the financial and commercial heartland of South Africa, while Durban is South Africa's key port and one of the busiest ports in the Southern Hemisphere and is also a holiday destination. Durban is the port through which Johannesburg imports and exports most of its goods. As a result, the N3 is a very busy highway and has a high volume of traffic.
Route
The N3 is divided into 12 sections, starting with section 1 in Durban and ending with section 12 in Johannesburg. Between the two cities, the route passes the following towns and cities: Pietermaritzburg, Estcourt, Ladysmith, Harrismith, Heidelberg and Germiston. It no longer passes through most of these towns, as bypasses have been built around all of them. The last bypass that was built was around the town of Warden.KwaZulu-Natal
The N3 begins in the Durban Central Business District at Pine Street and Commercial Road as a dual-carriageway freeway and heads west, passing through Berea and Mayville before intersecting with the N2 at the EB Cloete Interchange. It then heads through Westville before bypassing the south of Pinetown. The route is then tolled at Mariannhill as it leaves the urban area, and then heads towards Cato Ridge. From Cato Ridge, the route passes Camperdown before turning towards the northwest and heading towards Pietermaritzburg, the provincial capital.After bypassing Pietermaritzburg Central to the east and north, the N3 heads up a steep incline known as Town Hill before passing near Hilton and Howick; a road to the Southern Drakensberg leaves the N3 at Howick. The route then becomes rather picturesque as it heads through the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, passing through Mooi River before heading to Estcourt. Just past Estcourt, access to the Central and Northern Drakensberg via the R74 is provided, before the N3 heads in the direction of Ladysmith. The N3 passes Ladysmith to the west, with the N11 providing access to Ladysmith itself. The N3 from Cedara to Heidelberg in Gauteng is managed by a private concessionaire, the N3 Toll Concession.
A few kilometres after the N11 interchange, the N3 is tolled once again; the dual-carriageway freeway also ending at this point. From here, the N3 ascends the South African plateau via Van Reenen's Pass; at the top of the pass, the N3 crosses into the Free State.
Midlands, showing the dual-carriageway freeway.
Free State
After crossing into the Free State, the N3 heads to Harrismith, where the N5 leaves it. The N3 then heads to the north, and passes the town of Warden and heads towards Villiers, where a toll is located right before the Villiers off-ramp. Immediately after Villers, the N3 crosses the Vaal River and enters Mpumalanga.Mpumalanga
The N3 then heads through the south-western tip of Mpumalanga in the direction of Heidelberg. Soon after crossing the Vaal River, the N3 meets the R54 road, which provides access to Vereeniging in the west. After 23km, the N3 bypasses Grootvlei. Just before reaching Heidelberg, the N3 is tolled; this also marks the point where the N3 crosses into Gauteng.Gauteng
The N3 then continues north & bypasses Heidelberg before heading towards Johannesburg.On approaching Johannesburg, the N3 passes the townships of Katlehong and Vosloorus before bypassing Alberton. At the R554/R103 off-ramp, the N3 becomes an e-toll Highway and remains as one for its remainder.
Next, the N3 meets the N17 Highway at the Rand Airport Interchange near Rand Airport. Almost immediately afterwards, the N12 merges with the N3 at the Elands Interchange, with the N3 then becoming the Eastern Bypass portion of the Johannesburg Ring Road. From here, it follows much of the borderline between the City of Johannesburg and the City of Ekurhuleni.
The N3/N12 concurrency proceeds northwards from the Elands Interchange and bypasses the city of Germiston to the west. It reaches the Geldenhuys Interchange, where it forms an interchange with the M2 Highway, which provides access to the Johannesburg CBD in the west and the Germiston CBD in the east. Between the Elands Interchange and the Geldenhuys Interchange, it is 6 lanes in each direction, dropping to 5 after meeting the M2.
Next, the N3/N12 heads to Bedfordview, where the N12 leaves the N3 at the Gillooly's Interchange, joins the R24 Highway eastwards and provides access to the East Rand and OR Tambo International Airport. This interchange with the R24 is purported to be the busiest interchange in the Southern Hemisphere.
From here, the N3 continues going northwards as the Johannesburg Eastern Bypass and bypasses Edenvale and Alexandra before terminating at the Buccleuch Interchange just south of Midrand and north of Sandton, which is the point at which the N3, N1 and M1 converge.
Alternative route
Where the N3 has been realigned, the old alignment has been designated R103. The R103 exists in three sections: between Durban and Ladysmith, between Warden and Villiers, and between Heidelberg and Johannesburg. The only exception is within Durban itself, where most of the old N3 alignment is designated as the M13 instead of having the usual R103 designation; the R103 diverges from the M13 in Gillitts just outside Durban.The R103 is typically used to avoid the toll plazas on the N3, with one notable exception being the Tugela East Toll Plaza located on the R103 itself where the R103 and N3 meet north of Ladysmith.
Prior to the redesignation of the National Route numbers in 1971, the N3 moved east at Heidelberg and passed through the towns of Standerton, Volksrust and Newcastle via Laing's Nek Pass, before joining the present alignment at Ladysmith. This route now designated R23 between Heidelberg and Volksrust and N11 thereafter to Ladysmith remains an alternative to the N3.
Dual carriageway sections
Following the opening of the motorway section in December 2001 between Heidelberg and Villiers, the N3 now has at least two lanes in each direction for its entire length between the two cities. The section between Johannesburg and Villiers is dual carriageway motorway. Between Villiers and Warden the road is single carriageway motorway with two lanes in each direction. From Warden to Keeversfontein the road is no longer motorway but retains two lanes in each direction. Thereafter, the route to Durban is dual carriageway motorway. This last section is the second longest motorway by route number, but the longest motorway following one alignment in South Africa.Proposed realignment
There are certain individuals proposing plans to re-route one section of the N3 between Keeversfontein near Ladysmith, and the start of the tolled section near Warden, probably meeting the present alignment just south of Warden. This would involve the diversion of the road over De Beer's Pass, as opposed to Van Reenen's Pass. Not only would it reduce the route distance by 14 kilometres, but would have a lower gradient. Proponents of the new road argue that the existing Van Reenen's Pass is too steep for heavy trucks and exceeds the maximum gradient of 1:7 for an officially declared national road. This has caused a huge outcry among residents of Harrismith and Van Reenen, who rely on passing traffic to sustain businesses such as restaurants, petrol stations, and holiday rest places.The N3 Toll Concession has stated that the De Beer's bypass will be required when daily traffic volumes reach 13,900 vehicles - the current traffic volume at Van Reenen is 11,000 vehicles, and based on projected increases in traffic volumes, the bypass will need to be operational by the end of 2014, with construction commencing in the second half of 2011. However, they carefully fail to mention the additional cost this will entail for the general public and road users, which would be paid at the additional toll plaza to be added as part of the new route. Furthermore, the additional impact on congestion this new toll plaza will have on the traffic may in fact be worse than the congestion caused by the steep gradient of the current route.
In March 2017, it was decided by SANRAL that the construction of the De Beer's Pass Route will not continue. They are still considering alternatives in order to improve the existing Van Reenen's Pass.
Tolls
Most of the road is only usable upon the payment of toll. There are toll plazas at Marianhill, Mooiriver, Tugela, Villiers and Heidelberg. As mentioned above, most of the toll plazas can be avoided by using the R103.A sixth toll plaza would have been constructed south of Warden when the De Beer's bypass would have been built.
Open road tolling of the northernmost part of the N3, from Black Reef Road to Buccleuch Interchange in Gauteng, came into effect from December 2013 as the e-toll system. There are a number of electronic toll gantries located on this stretch, which charge road users according to their estimated distances travelled.
Notable interchanges
| Distance from origin | Exit number | Destinations | Notes |
| 0 | Durban Central Business District | N3 begins | |
| 8 | 165 | N2 - Stanger, Port Shepstone | |
| 17 | 17 | M13 - Pinetown | Northbound only |
| 20 | 20 | M7 - Pinetown, Queensburgh | Southbound only |
| 27 | Mariannhill Toll Plaza | ||
| 35 | 35 | M13 - Hillcrest | Southbound only |
| 50 | 50 | R103 - Cato Ridge | |
| 55 | 55 | Camperdown | |
| 60 | 60 | R103 - Umlaas Road | |
| 65 | 65 | R103 - Lynnefield Park / Lion Park | |
| 76 | 76 | Pietermaritzburg | Northbound only |
| 77 | 77 | R56 - New England Road | |
| 81 | 81 | R33 - Greytown | |
| 83 | 83 | Pietermaritzburg | Southbound only |
| 99 | 99 | R617 - Bulwer, Southern Drakensberg | |
| 143 | 143 | Mooi River | Mooi Toll Plaza |
| 179 | 179 | Central Drakensberg | |
| 194 | 194 | R74 - Colenso, Winterton, Northern Drakensberg | |
| 230 | 230 | N11 - Ladysmith R616 - Bergville | |
| 246 | 246 | R103 - Ladysmith | Tugela Toll Plaza Tugela East Toll Plaza Dual-carriageway ends Proposed start of De Beer's bypass |
| 272 | KwaZulu-Natal/Free State provincial border | ||
| 301 | 29 | N5 - Harrismith, Bethlehem, Bloemfontein | |
| 354 | 82 | Warden | Proposed end of De Beer's bypass |
| 405 | 133 | R34 - Vrede, Frankfort | |
| 441 | 169 | R26 - Villiers | Wilge Toll Plaza |
| 442 | Free State/Mpumalanga provincial border Dual-carriageway recommences | ||
| 447 | 5 | R51 - Balfour R54 - Vereeniging | |
| 490 | Mpumalanga/Gauteng provincial border De Hoek Toll Plaza | ||
| 501 | 59 | R23 - Heidelberg, Standerton | |
| 508 | 66 | R42 - Heidelberg, Nigel | |
| 512 | 70 | R23 - Heidelberg, Benoni | |
| 545 | 103 | N17 - Johannesburg, Springs | Gosforth Toll Plaza |
| 547 | 105 | N12 - Potchefstroom, Kimberley | N12 merges with N3 |
| 550 | 108 | M2 - Johannesburg, Germiston | |
| 555 | 113 | N12 - Witbank R24 - Johannesburg, OR Tambo International Airport | N12 separates from N3 and merges with R24 |
| 569 | 104 | - Bloemfontein, Pretoria M1 - Johannesburg | N3 ends |