The R55 is a north-south provincial route in Gauteng, South Africa that connects Sandton with Pretoria. It passes Woodmead, Kyalami, Olievenhoutbosch, Heuweloord, Sunderland Ridge, Erasmia, Laudium/Claudius, West Park, the Daspoort Tunnel and Danville. It connects with the M1, N14, and R80 highways. It also has dual carriageway sections designated as the P66-1 and K71 by the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport.

Route

The southern terminus of the R55 is a t-junction with the M11/R101 Pretoria Main Road south of Buccleuch. It then crosses and interchanges the M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway/Ben Schoeman Highway as it heads northwards through Woodmead. Leaving Woodmead, it crosses under the N1 highway (Western Bypass) before interchanging with the R564 (Maxwell Drive) in Sunninghill. It continues into Barbeque Downs before crossing the Jukskei River into Kyalami where it intersects the M39 Allandale Road. Leaving the Kyalami Estate, the M71 Main Road t-junctions the route and they are co-signed for a few metres up to Crowthorne, where the M71 becomes the road eastwards towards Grand Central Airport and the Midrand CBD. Continuing north-east, it passes through the Blue Hills agricultural holdings, crossing the R562 (Summit Road) and entering Centurion, passing through the suburb of Olievenhoutbosch, where it becomes a dual carriageway. It then intersects the N14 highway at Junction 317. The large Monavoni Circle was replaced with traffic lights, and a dual carriageway was built in this section, with surfaced shoulders to replace the existing narrow two-lane single carriageway.

Also, as a result of a fatal accident the existing N14 offramp from Centurion was converted into a four-way stop temporarily, and traffic lights were later installed.

Extension of the 4 lane dual-carriageway, to replace the section between the M10/Wierda Road intersection and Erasmia, a narrow two-lane single carriageway, passing over the Hennops River, which was overloaded and had severely deteriorated, began in late 2010, and was largely completed by late 2012, along with the installation of lighting on the newly constructed sections, including the previously rebuilt section between Weirda Road and the N14. The remaining provincially maintained (existing) dual-carriageway stretch beyond Erasmia, and part of the municipality-owned section beyond Laudium to the Maunde Street entrance to Atteridgeville was rehabilitated in 2014.

References

  • Routes Travel Info