Sir Lowry's Pass is amountain pass on theN2 national road in theWestern Cape province of South Africa. It crosses theHottentots Holland Mountains betweenSomerset West and theElgin valley, on the main route betweenCape Town and theGarden Route. A railway line also crosses the mountain range near this point.
The pass is 4 lanes wide and is subject to heavy traffic, especially at the start and end of holiday periods when many people travel in and out of the Cape Town area, and is sometimes seen as an accident black spot.[citation needed]
The summit of the pass is at 460 m. There is a viewpoint at this point which is also used as aparagliding launch point.[1]Baboons are often seen in this area. The top of the pass was formerly the start of theBoland Hiking Trail, but this section of the trail was closed after a number of deaths due to the difficult hiking conditions.[2] On the Grabouw side, the road passes theSteenbras Dam.
Sir Lowry's Pass Village is situated near the base of the pass.
The mountain crossing in that region was known by the indigenousKhoi people as theGantouw orEland's Pass, and was used as a stock route. The Dutch and British settlers at the Cape built a rough pass called theHottentots Holland Kloof Pass following the Gantouw route. The first recorded crossing was in 1664,[2] and by 1821 the pass was seeing 4500ox-wagons per year crossing into the interior, but the route was so severe that more than 20% of them were damaged.[3] The ruts left by these wagons being dragged over the mountains can still be seen, and were declared a National Monument in 1958.[2][4][5]
Starting in 1828, a new pass was constructed on the current route that would allow ox wagons to navigate the pass without difficulty. Construction began at a site about 2 km to the south of the Hottentots Holland Kloof, by the engineerCharles Michell using convict labour. The new pass was opened on 6 July 1830, and named afterLowry Cole, the Governor of theCape Colony at the time. The initial estimated cost of the project at the time was £2,672 8s and 6d (equivalent to £10,300,000[6] or R220,000,000 in 2014) with an actual cost upon completion of £3,000 (equivalent to £11,580,000[6] or R256,000,000 in 2014).[5] A toll-house was set-up on the top of mountain to offset the cost of the project to the Cape government collecting £490 in its first two years in addition to additional indirect tax revenue derived from increased use of port facilities and other tolls as a result of the increase in economic activity the pass created.[5]
The pass remained unchanged until a railway line toCaledon that runs parallel to the road was built in 1902 and alevel crossing halfway up the road's incline was built. The road remained narrow to the extent that vehicles could only pass each other at selected points on the pass.[5] In the 1930s, the pass was widened and tarred; it was further improved in the 1956 when it was further widened.[5] In 1984 the upper parts were widened to four lanes in a reinforced concrete construction[3] at a cost of R4.5 million.[5]
34°08′59″S18°55′42″E / 34.1497°S 18.9283°E /-34.1497; 18.9283
