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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byGDRT (Woodmead past Laudium),City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality | ||||
| Length | 43.8 km (27.2 mi) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   M11 /R101 nearWoodmead | |||
| Major intersections |  M1 near Woodmead R564 near Woodmead R562 nearBridle Park N14 near Olievenhoutbosch R114 in Centurion R104 in Pretoria West R514 in Claremont, Pretoria | |||
| North end |  R80 in Daspoort,Pretoria | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | South Africa | |||
| Major cities | Sandton,Centurion,Midrand,Pretoria | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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TheR55 is a north-southprovincial route inGauteng,South Africa that connectsSandton withPretoria. It passesWoodmead,Kyalami,Olievenhoutbosch,Heuweloord,Sunderland Ridge,Erasmia,Laudium/Claudius, West Park, theDaspoort Tunnel andDanville.[1] It connects with theM1,N14, andR80 highways. It is also designated as theP66-1 andK71 (newly constructeddual carriageway sections[citation needed]) by theGauteng Provincial Government.[2]
The southern terminus of the R55 is a t-junction with theM11/R101 Pretoria Main Road south ofBuccleuch. It then crosses and interchanges theM1 De Villiers Graaff motorway/Ben Schoeman Highway as it heads northwards throughWoodmead. Leaving Woodmead, it crosses under theN1 highway (Western Bypass) before interchanging with theR564 (Maxwell Drive) inSunninghill. It continues intoBarbeque Downs before crossing theJukskei River intoKyalami where it intersects theM39 Allandale Road. Leaving theKyalami Estate, theM71 Main Road t-junctions the route and they are co-signed for a few metres up toCrowthorne, where the M71 becomes the road eastwards towardsGrand Central Airport and theMidrand CBD. Continuing north-east, it passes through theBlue Hills agricultural holdings, crossing theR562 (Summit Road) and enteringCenturion, passing through the suburb ofOlievenhoutbosch, where it becomes a dual carriageway. It then intersects theN14 highway at Junction 317.[1]
Shortly after crossing the N14, it intersects theR114 in theHeuweloord suburb of Centurion. Heading northwards, theM10 intersects the route from the east close toSunderland Ridge and later theM24 from the west, close to theZwartkops Raceway. Continuing toLaudium, the M26 intercepts the route just south of the suburb. Leaving Laudium towards the northeast, it entersPretoria West as Quagga Road, where it intersects theM22 and stops being a dual carriageway. At this intersection, the R55 turns north as Transoranje Road, passing through West Park and Proclamation Hill, crossing theR104 and shortly thereafter theM4 Magalies Toll Freeway. The R55 Transoranje Road heads north throughDanville where it passes through theDaspoort Tunnel.[1]
Leaving the tunnel, it continues north through Claremont,Daspoort andBooysens, crossing theR80 Mabopane Highway intersection and after a short distance ends as a t-junction with Denyssen Avenue in Suiderberg, Northern Pretoria.[1]
Although parts of the road in Johannesburg were widened in 2005, other single-lane sections of the route, especially inCenturion, were in a dangerous state, due to the high volumes of traffic and presence of heavy vehicles causing the road surface to deteriorate.
Renovation of a section in Centurion between the N14 and M10/Wierda Road intersection near Sunderland Ridge began in 2007, with construction largely completed by September 2010.[3] 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.[4][5]
Also, as a result of a fatal accident[6] 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 theHennops 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 toAtteridgeville was rehabilitated in 2014.[7]
