Action on the N3. Good News for Cato Ridge?
Category Upper Highway General
ACTION ON THE N3 - GOOD NEWS FOR CATO RIDGE?
SANRAL recently announced the start of the much-anticipated upgrades of the N3 and it was really pleasing to see all the activity when driving towards Howick this morning.
We noted the following:-
- A lot of activity on the SANRAL site in Camperdown, in preparing the construction depot for the widening of the N3 in the area.
- Roadworks and the preparation of another road contractors construction site in the Dardanelles area where the interchange is to be upgraded and the N3 will be widened to 8 lanes between there and Lynnfield Park.
- Major restoration to the truck lanes on Town Hill in both directions.
Despite the short term 'pain' due to the traffic delays, all of these works will create much needed employment in the area and ultimately improve traffic flow but what affect will it have on Cato Ridge?
In the last month or so, there has been a lot of media coverage about the move of the Transnet National Ports Authority head office to Ngqura, near Port Elizabeth and the affect that this may have on the plans for the proposed Dry Port/Intermodal Hub in Cato Ridge.
It has however, since become clear that the Dry Port, with Intermodal Hub and truck staging area is most definitely still required and part of the plan. The works on the N3 will only increase the urgency for it in an effort to help alleviate congestion at all the pinch points.
A recent article in the MERCURY reported that "The Cato Ridge precinct would be developed into a private sector driven intermodal industrial cluster that would assist in de-congesting the port by way of making the precinct a truck off-loading and on-loading zone, linking the N3 freeway to the railway from the port."
This makes so much sense and it is clear that a number of large corporates have already identified the advantages and opportunities in locating their Distribution Centre's and other facilities in the area. The swift progress on the PEPKOR Distribution Centre at Keystone Park was also evident this morning, as were all of the large new motor vehicle storage facilities in and around Camperdown.
It is clearly a good time to invest in the area and Share-List property, as the area property experts, would be happy to assist you in identifying the opportunities that best match your requirements.
Author: Robert McInerney
