Night-time closure for Huguenot Tunnel maintenance

Western Cape, 1 June 2021 – With extensive maintenance to the Huguenot Tunnel having been done under live traffic conditions over the last two years, the next phase of the upgrade will necessitate the night-time closure of the tunnel from Monday 14 June.

“Statistics show that only 10% of the daily traffic passing through the tunnel, do so at night-time. In terms of the least disruptive time, the tunnel would thus be closed to traffic, from 10pm to 6am, Monday to Thursday. This means that the tunnel will still be open during the daytime Monday to Thursday and fully open 24 hours a day from Friday to Sunday, for all road users,” said Randall Cable, SANRAL Western Region Manager.

This year, the tunnel had been in service for 33 years, with an impeccable safety record and a remarkable capacity load of well over 110 million vehicles.  The electrical and mechanical systems have however neared the end of its life and need replacement to ensure compliance to international safety standards.

Much of the required maintenance work has been completed under live traffic conditions, to ensure minimal inconvenience to road users. These include:

• 11Kv line replacement between the tunnel and the Main Control Centre (MCC)
• Installation of back-up generators at MCC and portal buildings
• Most of the watermain replacement
• Main Control Centre building upgrade
• Replacement of variable message signs (VMS) and all electronic signage in the tunnel
• Replacement of Main Control Centre fire detection and suppression system
• Upgrade of Emergency radio system in the tunnel and Main Control Centre

“Some of the work, like the upgrade of the tunnel fire detection system, replacement of the tunnel strip and adaption lighting and the asphalt overlay of the Eastern Approach Road (Worcester side) cannot be done under live traffic conditions and will therefore be done at night-time during the planned closures. We anticipate that this should all be completed by 30 September 2021,” said Mike Vinello-Lippert, SANRAL Tunnel Project Manager.

SANRAL has been engaging stakeholders from local and provincial government, the road freight industry, the agricultural sector, SANTACO and the local business community on how the closures will impact their businesses, so that they are able to make adjustments to their travel times or use any of the various alternative routes.

The least amount of inconvenience may be caused by adjusting travel times to arrive at the tunnel before or after closure times. Where this is entirely unavoidable, alternative routes include Paarl – DuToit’s Kloof Pass – Worcester (±62 km), Paarl -Gouda - Tulbagh – Worcester (±121 km) or Wellington – Tulbagh - Ceres (± 74 km.) Depending on origin and destination, the N2 Grabouw to Villiersdorp (41 km) is also an option.

“Where unforeseen changes to the schedule are necessitated, we will communicate these as soon as possible, to ensure that road users are fully informed of the work being carried out and the effects this may have on traffic flow,” said Cable.

Real-time and accurate Huguenot Tunnel closure information will be made available on www.i-traffic.co.za and the SANRAL website www.nra.co.za, to allow road users to plan their journeys accordingly. Various other social media platforms will also be used to convey real-time and accurate information to all stakeholders.

“SANRAL apologises for the inconvenience these upgrades may cause. The safety of every road user passing through the Huguenot Tunnel, is however our prime objective,” concluded Cable.

Western Cape, 27 August 2021 – Huguenot Tunnel upgrades are well underway, with no major spike in traffic volumes in the Du Toits Kloof Pass during the night-time closures, i.e. Monday to Thursday 10pm to 6am.

The potential increase of heavy vehicles going over the pass at night has always been a concern, particularly as incident response in the narrow pass posed multiple challenges and would cause significant delays and congestion, which has a direct impact on the economy.

“Traffic monitoring reports however show a slight decrease in the amount of traffic (both heavy and light motor vehicles) going over the pass during the night-time closures, when compared to the period prior to the commencement of the tunnel closures. This could either indicate that road users have adjusted their travel time or taken an alternative route. Either way, it means our proactive communications are reaching the targeted audiences,” said Mike Vinello-Lippert, SANRAL Project Manager.

With regard to the current maintenance operations, the asphalt overlay of the Eastern Approach road is 85% complete and all indications are that the construction works will be completed on schedule, by 30 September.

The replacement of continuous strip lights, adaptation luminaires at the portals and the lighting control system is also making steady progress. Old fluorescent and high- pressure sodium luminaires are being replaced with new more energy efficient LED fittings while additional adaptation luminaires are installed at both portals to ensure compliance with international best practice for the entrance zone lighting.

With the night-time closures, SANRAL has taken the opportunity to replace the outdated existing fire detection systems in the Huguenot Tunnel with modern systems which comply with local and international standards and best practice. The works include the detail design, manufacture, supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of the tunnel fire detection systems.

“We are incredibly pleased with the progress made, and even more grateful to our road users for their continued cooperation and patience during this project. We look forward to completing these upgrade works and providing a much-improved road user experience. We believe that the safety improvements will go a long way to meeting world-class standards,” said Randall Cable, SANRAL Western Region Manager.

Road users are reminded of the variety of alternative routes which include Paarl – DuToit’s Kloof Pass – Worcester (±62 km), Paarl - Gouda - Tulbagh – Worcester (±121 km) or Wellington – Tulbagh - Ceres (± 74 km.) Depending on origin and destination, the N2 Grabouw to Villiersdorp (41 km) is also an option should they need to travel on a Monday to Thursday between 10pm and 6am.

Western Cape, 14 September 2021 – The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) would like to inform road users of intermittent tunnel closures on Wednesday 15 September 2021, between 10am and 2pm, for the calibration of luminance levels for the commissioning of the new lighting installation.

Traffic flow may be accommodated via a Stop/Go system for some of this time should the required work procedures allow.

“We shall endeavour to complete the work as quickly as possible, to minimise the inconvenience to motorists,” said Mike Vinello-Lippert, SANRAL Project Manager.

Road users are reminded of the alternative routes, which include Paarl – DuToit’s Kloof Pass – Worcester (±62 km), Paarl -Gouda - Tulbagh – Worcester (±121 km) or Wellington – Tulbagh - Ceres (± 74 km.) Depending on origin and destination, the N2 Grabouw to Villiersdorp (41 km) is also an option.