Sanral said that the proposed N1/N2 Winelands Toll Project in the Western Cape is necessary in order to pay for ventilation upgrades to the Huguenot Tunnel.
The proposed route along the N1 will extend from west of the R300 interchange through to Sandhills, while along the N2 it would extend from west of the R300 to Bot River.
Fin24 reports that Sanral said the tunnel needs to be upgraded because it was not designed to cope with the amount of heavy vehicles it was carrying.
There are also concerns that if a fire were to break out inside the tunnel, the current ventilation system would not cope. At present, the tunnel can cope with a 30MW fire, which is equivalent to a car on fire, but if a tanker were to explode it would result in 100MW to 200MW fire.
Last May, the Western Cape High Court granted the City of Cape Town an interim interdict preventing Sanral from implementing or advancing the toll project.
The interdict was granted pending a review of Sanral’s decision to implement the project.