“Despite the daily efforts of our routine maintenance teams to keep the N3 roadside clean and free of litter, it remains an on-going battle, showing little sign of abating,” says Ms Thania Dhoogra, N3TC’s operations manager. “It is concerning to note that litter (or objects in the road) is the probable cause of as much as 10% of light vehicle crashes (for heavy vehicles it is 1%).”

Maintenance teams collect more than 6000 bags of rubbish along the N3 Toll Route each month. Besides the rubbish that can be bagged, debris such as metal, rubber, vehicle parts and dropped loads may pose serious road safety, health and environmental threats.

“In the interest of people’s health and safety, the well-being of the communities, as well as minimising the impact on the natural habitats and agricultural operations which form part of the N3 corridor, we appeal to all road users to help us fight this scourge. Please keep your rubbish in your vehicle, and only dispose thereof at designated disposal sites or bins, where it is safe to do so.”

N3TC’s route patrol teams sweep the entire route in both directions daily to remove dangerous objects. Additionally, they respond to reported scenes to remove possible dangerous objects from the road as quickly as possible.  They will double their efforts during the upcoming peak traffic season, but road users can assist them even further by reporting potentially dangerous objects in the road to N3TC’s Route Control Centre on its 24-hour helpline: 0800 63 43 57.

Our clean-up efforts never cease. The battle starts afresh every day. We know the places where litter is usually concentrated, like at interchanges and bridges, but it’s everywhere, really; and after weekends or public holidays, it is worse with a huge number of empty liquor bottles and containers indiscriminately disposed of along the entire route. This in itself lends evidence to drivers possibly being intoxicated behind the wheel, or their passengers being potentially drunk, who can also be a dangerous distraction in a vehicle. Intoxicated pedestrians walking next to the road equally place themselves and motorists at risk.