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.
Johannesburg is heavily dependent upon freeways for transport around the city due to its location 1,500 metres above sea level, far from the coast or any major bodies of water. There are 10 freeways in the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area: the N1, N3, N12, N14, N17, R21, R24, R59, M1 and M2. In addition, three new freeways are planned: the G5, G9 and G14. Freeways are sometimes called highways or motorways colloquially.
The Johannesburg Ring Road is a set of freeways that circle the city of Johannesburg, South Africa and service the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The entire ring road is approximately 83 km long and was an e-toll highway from 3 December 2013 up until e-tolls were shut down in Gauteng on 12 April 2024.
The Pretoria Ring Road, also known as the Pretoria Bypass, is a collection of two bypasses that together form a partial ring road around the city of Pretoria, South Africa. It consists of a section of the N1 highway as well as a section of the N4 highway. It is entirely in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.
The N3 Eastern Bypass is a section of the Johannesburg Ring Road that forms a beltway around the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of the N3. The first section of the freeway opened in 1971, from Buccleuch to the interchange with Main Reef Road in Germiston. This is one reason why Germiston is listed as the southbound destination of this route, from the Buccleuch to Geldenhuys Interchanges, rather than to the Elands Interchange south of Germiston. The remaining section from Main Reed Road to Black Reef Road, which included the construction of the Geldenhuys Interchange, was opened in 1977, linking the Eastern Bypass with the N3 freeway to Heidelberg. The interchange at Main Reef Road was removed.
The Western Bypass is a section of the N1 and the Johannesburg Ring Road located in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Known at the time as the Concrete Highway, the freeway was initially opened in 1975 as a route to avoid the city centre of Johannesburg and to provide access to the western areas of the Witwatersrand. From the south, the Western Bypass begins at the Diepkloof Interchange in Soweto, where it splits from the N12 freeway and ends at the Buccleuch Interchange, where it merges with the N3 Eastern Bypass, M1 South and N1 Ben Schoeman freeways.
The N1 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Polokwane to Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe. It forms the first section of the famed Cape to Cairo Road.
Alberton is a town situated on the southern part of the East Rand of the Gauteng Province in South Africa and is situated very close to the major urban centre of Johannesburg.
The R21 is a major north–south provincial route in eastern Gauteng Province, South Africa. Built in the early 1970s, it remains one of two freeways linking Pretoria with Johannesburg, via the R24. As the eastern of the two freeways, it links the Pretoria city centre with OR Tambo International Airport and Boksburg. Between the Solomon Mahlangu Drive on-ramp in Monument Park, Pretoria, and the N12 interchange in Boksburg, the R21 is an 8 lane highway and motorway (freeway), with 4 lanes in each direction. It has off-ramps leading to Irene, Olifantsfontein, Benoni, and Kempton Park. The route intersects the N1 highway near Centurion, the R24 near the airport, the N12 and N17 in Boksburg, and the N3 near Vosloorus on the East Rand, where it ends. The section from the N12 to the N3 is not a freeway. The R21 is also designated as the P157.
The R24 is a major East-West provincial route in the Gauteng and North West provinces that links OR Tambo International Airport with Rustenburg via Johannesburg, Krugersdorp and Magaliesburg. The process of renaming the streets and freeway that form the route from Krugersdorp eastward to OR Tambo International after anti-apartheid stalwart Albertina Sisulu was completed in 2013.
The R54 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Potchefstroom with Villiers via Vereeniging.
The R82 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Johannesburg with Kroonstad via Vereeniging and Sasolburg. It starts just south of the M1 Johannesburg Municipal Highway's interchange with the N12 Southern Bypass, going south, meeting the R59, R54, R42 & R28 routes at Vereeniging before crossing the Vaal River into the Free State & proceeding to Kroonstad. It is an alternative, but longer route to the N1 National Route between Johannesburg & Kroonstad.
The M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway is a metropolitan route and major freeway in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. The highway connects the southern areas with the city centre and extends further north through Sandton into the Ben Schoeman Highway towards Pretoria. Construction began in 1962 and resulted in the demolition of many properties and houses including numerous historical Parktown Mansions.
The N12 is a national route in South Africa which runs from George through Beaufort West, Kimberley, Klerksdorp and Johannesburg to eMalahleni.
The N4 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Skilpadshek on the Botswana border, past Rustenburg, Pretoria, eMalahleni and Mbombela, to Komatipoort on the Mozambique border. The entire route is a toll road.
The N17 is a national route in South Africa which runs from Johannesburg to Oshoek (Ngwenya) on the border with Eswatini. It passes through Springs, Bethal and Ermelo.
The Ben Schoeman Freeway or Ben Schoeman Highway is the main freeway between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and consists of portions of the M1, N1, and N14. Opened in 1968, it is named after former Minister of Transport Ben Schoeman, and is undoubtedly the busiest road in South Africa.
e-toll consisted of the electronic toll collection (ETC) processes employed by South Africa's roads agency SANRAL on selected toll roads or toll lanes in the Gauteng province, subject to the Sanral Act of 1998. SANRAL derives its income both from toll income and the national fiscus, while initial capital outlay for large projects are funded by open market bond issues. In total SANRAL manages 13,000 km of non-toll roads in South Africa, besides the majority of its toll roads, including 187 km of Gauteng's freeways which were subject to e-toll.
The M37 is a metropolitan route in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa. It connects the N3 at Greenstone Shopping Mall with Katlehong via Edenvale and Germiston.
The M68 is a short metropolitan route in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. It connects the south-western part of Soweto with Mulbarton via Diepkloof, Southgate and Glenvista.
N1 Diepkloof Interchange
M1 Uncle Charlies Interchange
M17 Xavier Street, Ridgeway
M7 Kliprivier Drive, Suideroord
M11 Comaro Street, Oakdene
R59 Reading Interchange, Alberton
R103 / M31 Voortrekker Road, Alberton
N17 Elands Interchange, Germiston
N3 Elands Interchange, Germiston
