Trucks congesting N2 in northern KZN 'to be pulled inside port vicinity'

The trucks that congested the N2 highway in the past week will be “pulled inside the Port of Richards Bay vicinity” with immediate effect.

The highway in northern KwaZulu-Natal has been heavily congested as tipper trucks transporting coal experienced heavy delays during the week.

The Port of Richards Bay and City of Umhlathuze said in a joint statement 300 trucks would be pulled in with immediate effect.

“These will include trucks temporarily stationed at Empangeni Old Airport and those currently on the N2.”

Trucks will be called according to a colour-coding process to be implemented and managed with customers.

“Trucks will have to be dispatched with a sticker on a window screen to identify which area/vessel they are destined to.”

According to the joint statement, the cause of the influx was due to “national events which took place on Tuesday in the Richards Bay CBD” where trucks were halted from entering the city.

The port and the city said the traffic flow has drastically improved due to contingency plans put in place along with the Road Traffic Inspectorate and the city’s traffic department.

“Transnet, the City of Umhlathuze, Sanral and KZN department of transport have concluded discussions that will drive solutions aimed at putting an end to the truck congestion challenges. The discussions were aimed at seeking collaborative measures of working together to determine amicable ways of decongesting the municipal roads as well as the N2 highway,” they said.

Some of the other immediate contingency plans include:

• Additional staging areas inside the terminals have been operationalised to pull trucks from the public roads into the staging areas. Offloading areas will be managed using colour-coding system.
• The Naval Island will also be made available as an additional staging area until the situation subsides.
• The port has beefed up the offloading capacity by deploying additional resources to avoid any further congestion.
• Personnel at staging areas will be in communication with truck supervisors by two-way radio for guidance of accurate destination.
• Negotiating with the customers to deploy marshals that will assist in directing traffic.
• Trucks that arrive in Richards Bay without a permit must be reported to the road traffic department and a fine will be issued.

“Community members are advised to remain calm and vigilant when driving in the affected road networks during this period. The City of Umhlathuze strongly urges the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands and to allow law enforcement agencies space to perform their duties diligently.”

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