N3 at Ashburton reopened for traffic following tanker crash.

By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

Hours after an advisory from the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) cautioning motorists travelling between Pietermaritzburg and Durban to avoid the N3 northbound lane near Ashburton, both lanes of the N3 are now opened.

There has been a disastrous crash involving a tanker between Ashburton and Lynnfield Park. 

At 9.30 am Saturday morning, emergency services were continuing with the recovery of a truck carrying flammable gas that overturned on Friday night near Ashburton.

It was transporting LPG – a highly flammable gas – when it overturned, resulting in a closure on both sides of the N3 in that area.   

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) confirmed that the northbound and southbound lanes at Ashburton have been reopened for traffic after a Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker overturned on Friday.

SANRAL’s Eastern region manager, Dumisani Nkabinde said it will take time to clear the backlog of traffic in the area.

“Heavy duty tow trucks were used to remove the tanker which enabled us to open the road. This will help ease the traffic that had backed up to approximately 13 kilometres,” said Nkabinde.

Earlier the N3 was closed in both directions. There were fears it could stay closed for most of the day. Reports said the Fire department had laid down a foam blanket for big recovery trucks that were getting ready to rig the tanker to right it. It’s believed the vent valve was still blowing off earlier on Saturday morning.

The road closure caused great congestion on the R103 alternate route. Traffic to Durban was diverted at the Market Road exit and traffic to Pietermaritzburg was diverted at the Lynfield Park exit. Pietermaritzburg people needing to get to the King Shaka airport were being advised on whatsapp groups to go via Greytown. 

Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business CEO Melanie Veness said an accident such as this one, in which dangerous chemicals were spilled, requires specialist intervention and a substantial clean-up operation to make the road safe to navigate again and this means  an extensive road closure.

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