Transforming the Borcherd’s Quarry/N2 interchange

Early in 2013, an approach was made by PEDI CEO Thomas Swana to the Western Cape MEC for Transport to investigate the possibility of creating improved access to the Philippi East Industrial area which, due to a number of reasons including access and security issues, was not developing as had previously been expected.

Consulting Engineers HHO Africa were appointed by the Western Cape Government in May 2013 to carry out the planning and design of the N2/New Borcherds Quarry interchange, which included the realignment of Borcherds Quarry Road and New Eisleben Road.

The new Borcherd’s Quarry interchange on the N2 will transform access to Philippi

The decision of the Western Cape Provincial Government to approve the realignment of the N2 at Borcherds Quarry in a R610m project will transform access to the area and increase the desirability of doing business in Philippi.

The realignment will mean that businesses and their clients will be able to access Philippi directly instead of having to navigate a long and complicated route, while residents will be able to access the highway directly.

Phase One has been approved and this will see the widening of the N2 to three lanes in both directions between Borcherds Quarry and the R300. Work on this phase is due to start in 2016.

In later phases, a new bridge will be built and Borcherds Quarry Road will be realigned so that it links directly over this bridge to New Eisleben Road. New on- and off-ramps will also be built to connect to the N2. The project is scheduled to be conducted over three years, and is expected to be completed in 2018.

The Borcherds Quarry Road/ New Eisleben Road route has been identified in the City of Cape Town’s Integrated Public Transport Network Plan (IPTN) (May 2014), as one of the major north–south IRT public transport corridors in the metropolitan area.

The route has also been identified as an important MyCiTi corridor in the Metropolitan Transport Master Plan. This extensive study has now been completed by HHO Africa after a detailed look at what the current needs are as well as the projected growth of the Philippi East Industrial Area .