 | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Maintained by Johannesburg Roads Agency and Department of Roads and Transport (Gauteng) | |
| Length | 5.75 mi (9.25 km) |
| Existed | 1880s–present |
| Major junctions | |
| South end | Clarendon Place/Willie Street,Hillbrow |
| Major intersections |  M31 Houghton Drive,HoughtonM31 Joe Slovo Drive,Berea M16 1st Ave, HoughtonM16 8th St,Orange Grove R25 11 Ave/Louis Road, Orchards M20 Athol St,Highlands North M30 Corlett Dr,Bramley M40 Artwright Ave,Wynberg |
| North end | Artwright Ave,Wynberg |
| Location | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Highway system | |
Louis Botha Avenue (part of Johannesburg Metropolitan RouteM11) is a majorstreet inJohannesburg,South Africa. Originally part of the main road betweencentral Johannesburg andPretoria, it runs along through the north-eastern parts of the city fromHillbrow toSandton, passing through numerous older suburbs, includingHoughton andOrange Grove, before it becomes thePretoria Main Road atWynberg (bypassing theAlexandra Township) and continues toMidrand and Pretoria.
Louis Botha Ave, which is part of theM11 metropolitan route, begins at the top of theJohannesburg CBD in the suburbs ofHillbrow andBerea at the Clarendon Place and Willie Street junction and then heads north-east passing betweenHoughton to the north andYeoville andBellevue to the south.[1]: 82 In Houghton it passes close to the private boys schools ofSt John's College (1889) andKing Edward VII school (1911).[1]: 82 After this point the road curves and is ominously nicknamedDeathbend due to the number of car accidents at the spot.[2] The route then enters the suburb ofOrange Grove, passing the new Victory Theatre (2007),[1]: 83 the older one torn down in 2005 which has its origins as a cinema in 1929 and renamed after the end ofWorld War II as the Victory and became a theatre in the early nineties. Radium Beer Hall is on the right. Midway through Orange Grove, the road bends northwards and passes throughOrchards andSydenham and the smaller suburbs ofMaryvale,Forbesdale,Cheltondale,Rouxville andHawkins Estate.[1]: 83 The road then crosses theM20 at Atholl Road in the suburbs ofHighlands North andWaverley.[1]: 57 The road crosses Corlett Drive inBramley before ending a short distance later at the Artwright Avenue (M40) junction in the light industrial suburb ofWynberg with the old township ofAlexandra to the east.[1]: 57 The road, still designated as theM11, continues on northwards as the Pretoria Main Road.
The roadway originates as far back as 1876 as a wagon track connecting the farms south of the ridge withSouth African Republic's (ZAR) capital, at Pretoria.[3]: 27 The road would pass throughHalfway House (now known as Midrand) before heading to Pretoria. Halfway House was laid out in 1890 and became the halfway mark between the two towns on the Zeedeberg coach route.[4] The roadway has its beginnings at the apex of triangular piece of unused government land atRandjelaagte in what is now the suburbs ofHillbrow andBerea. The apex is remembered by theRandjelaagte Beacon at the top of Clarendon Place. The road then headed north-east along the boundaries of the old Witwatersrand farmsKlipfontein to the north andDoornfontein to the south before peeling away through the former as it drops down from the ridge crossing the smallLemoen Spruit (Orange Grove Spruit) and into the northern valley. At the bottom of the ridge the road would pass theLemoen Plaas a farm where travelers would rest.[3]: 28 Gold was discovered south of the ridge in 1886 and by 1889 a hotel called the Orange Grove Hotel appeared close to the old farm and was an excursion point for the early town residents.[3]: 28 During theSecond Boer War, after the British Army captured Johannesburg, a British block-house was built alongside the road near the bottom of the ridge overlooking the valley protecting the town from the Boer forces.[5]: 39 It was still visible in 1909.
The land around this area, called Alexandra Estate would be renamed as Orange Grove in 1904 and the suburb was laid out by the African Realty Trust.[3]: 29 In 1909 atram line from Johannesburg would be laid down the road and would terminate in the suburb of Sydenham. The old Pretoria road obtained its existing name in 1917 when it was named after the prime minister and Boer-War general,Louis Botha.[3]: 30 On 3 July 1917, the Federation of Ratepayers Association recommended to theCity of Johannesburg that two main roads in Johannesburg be named after Louis Botha andJan Smuts, in honour of their service to the British Empire duringWorld War I.[5]: 39 The council voted and Morgan Road and Pretoria Main Road became Louis Botha Avenue.[5]: 39
A largely business street, there are some problems on Louis Botha Avenue, includingurban decay caused by illegal land uses, such asshebeens.[6] In 2014, construction began on the expansion of Johannesburg'sRea Vayabus rapid transit system to Louis Botha Avenue.[7]
