The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate is set to take over the maintenance and management of 32 traffic signals on national roads within its jurisdiction, following approval from the Mayoral Committee for a three-year agreement with the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).
The proposal, which still requires City Council approval at the end of the month, will see Cape Town manage signalised intersections along key national road sections while Sanral continues to bear all construction, maintenance and operational costs.
The 32 intersections are located along three major national road corridors owned and managed by Sanral:
- The R300 between the N2 and N1 highways
- The N2 highway between the R300 and R102
- The N1 highway from the R300 towards the east
This represents a significant addition to Cape Town’s current traffic management responsibilities, as the City already maintains and manages approximately 1 560 signalised intersections across the municipal road network through four dedicated maintenance depots.
Improved response times expected
Rob Quintas, Mayco member for Urban Mobility, said the inter-governmental cooperation would deliver substantial benefits to road users.
“Road users will benefit significantly from this inter-governmental cooperation because it will allow us to respond to faults at Sanral signals and do component upgrades that will improve the operational efficiencies of the signals at these intersections and keep Cape Town moving.”
He praised the City’s expertise in traffic-signal management, highlighting dedicated staff responsible for sequencing, alignment and timing to optimise traffic flows along major transport networks.
The proposed 36-month agreement will outline obligations for both parties, including costs for materials, labour, upgrades and new installations. Sanral’s signals are integrated into the area traffic control network and monitored from the Transport Management Centre.
This arrangement builds on Cape Town’s existing collaboration with Sanral, which currently operates and maintains the Freeway Management System on behalf of the three road authorities responsible for Cape Town’s freeways: the City, Western Cape Government and Sanral itself.
The agreement follows previous short-term arrangements between the two entities for maintaining signalised intersections, indicating a move towards more formalised long-term cooperation in traffic management.
