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.

Regional route R512
Major junctions
North end	R511 in Brits
	R566 near Brits N4 near Brits R104 near Brits R560 west of Hartbeespoort R552 near Lanseria N14 near Lanseria R114 near Lanseria R564 in Johannesburg North
South end	N1 Western Bypass in Randburg
Highway system
Numbered routes of South Africa ← R511 → R513

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. At Damdoryn, 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 from the Elephant Sanctuary to Broederstroom.

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 25 km journey to Lanseria International Airport and the road then meets the R552 (6th Road), and forms and interchange with the N14 Highway (Pretoria-Krugersdorp Highway).

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.

Pampoen Nek Pass

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 before the freeway goes westwards to join the N4 West.

It is being built to reduce the traffic that occurs on the current longer section of the R512 through Damdoryn, which is also labelled as a high accident zone.[4][5] 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 & Sun City or to go to Brits.[3] To some extent, this new route will also reduce the traffic on the R511 Route,[5] which passes on the other side of the Hartbeespoort Dam (through Hartbeespoort Central) and when the road is done, long distance movements will no longer have to interfere with local traffic.[5] It is to be used by motorists who want to travel from the Johannesburg Municipality (Sandton & Randburg) (and nearby areas, like Pretoria West) to cities like Brits, Sun City and Rustenburg.

On 3 September 2020, the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, together with the South African National Roads Agency and the Madibeng Local Municipality, officially opened the new road.[6] This route, known as the Pampoen Nek Highway, is 6 kilometres in length (6 kilometres shorter than the Z-shaped route through Damdoryn and the Elephant Sanctuary).

References

1. Communications, Admire Moyo, Meropa (2018-10-23). "Less traffic congestion for Hartbeespoort Dam". ITWeb Africa. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
2. SANRALauthor. "The R512 is in harmony with nature". SANRAL Stop Over. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
3. "South African highways project at Hartbeespoort Dam set to relieve congestion". Highways Today. 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
4. https://www.madibeng.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hartbeespoort-Area-Precinct-Plan_Part3.pdf
5. DeonvanHuizen. "Pampoennek Road is open!". Kormorant. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
6. "Minister Fikile Mbalula: Opening of Pampoennek road in North West | South African Government". www.gov.za. Retrieved 2020-09-24.