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Johannesburg - Around R200m was spent on the construction of a new major road opened in the Western Cape on Tuesday, transport MEC Robin Carlisle said.
The new Sandown Road connects the R27 West Coast Road to the N7 in northern Cape Town.
"This R200m initiative was made possible by the construction of the Potsdam/N7 interchange built by the province and the M12 infrastructure built by the city," Carlisle said in a statement.
"This infrastructure investment... will improve the already high standards of the City of Cape Town and the province's road network," he said.
Recent construction projects had resulted in building of new routes through the suburbs, a connecting route through the West Coast and northern suburbs, and improved access to the city's international airport.
Carlisle said the new road created opportunities for housing, economic growth and new jobs.
"This new road has also meant the unlocking of the Rivergate development, that will offer mixed use commercial, industrial, institutional and residential opportunities, as well as see the expansion of the MyCiti [bus] service where a need for public transport has now been created," he said.
According to Carlisle, around 93 percent of all roads in the Western Cape were in fair to very good condition.
"That is better than many first world countries," he said.
"Our provincial surfaced roads are now very close to optimum standard."
He said the province had already met its 2014 target of reducing the road maintenance backlog by 16 percent.
"All of this was achieved only through partnership - the most difficult of all undertakings but the most rewarding if persisted with," he said.
