Question NW2957 to the Minister of Transport
01 November 2018 - NW2957
Nolutshungu, Ms N to ask the Minister of Transport
(a) On what basis was the route for the N2 Wild Coast toll road selected, (b) what factors were taken into consideration when the selection was made, (c) were there any other alternative routes that were considered for the toll road and (d) what are the reasons that the alternative routes were not chosen?
Reply:
(a)The route was selected on the basis of a best-case scenario taking into consideration various combinations of factors that generally get analysed during the route determination process. This generally includes trade-offs, minimising impact, maximising benefits and avoiding certain risks.
(b) The factors included construction and operational costs, which are heavily influence by the terrain of the chosen alignment (i.e. shortest river crossings, avoiding steep gradients, etc), economic impacts (i.e. shortest most direct route to reduce user costs, etc), environmental impacts (avoiding environmental sensitive area or reducing impact to minimum, etc) and social impacts (i.e. number of people to be resettled, employment opportunities, etc).
(c)Numerous alternatives were investigated and considered during the initial scoping study. These were taken through a public participation process and were narrowed down to a total of 6 alternatives for the detailed Environmental Impact Assessment specialist studies, public participation process and associated reports. For more details on these alternatives please see the detailed reports on the SANRAL website (www.sanral.co.za) under Major Projects>>N2 Wild Coast Toll Road.
(d)The route finally given a positive Record of Decision by the Department of Environmental Affairs through the EIA process offered the best trade-off of all the competing factors and impacts between all the alternatives considered. The details are captured in the reports referenced above.