The Western Bypass is a section of the N1

N1 (South Africa)

The N1 is a South African National Route, running from Cape Town to Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe. It is also the main road link between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and forms the first section of the famed Cape to Cairo Road....

 and the Johannesburg Ring Road

Johannesburg Ring Road

The Johannesburg Ring Road is Africa's most famous beltway. It is made up of a subset of the freeways that circle the city of Johannesburg, South Africa and services the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area. Construction on the Ring Road began in the late 1960s...

 located in the city of Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The freeway was inially opened in 1975 as a route to avoid the city centre of Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 and access for the western areas of the Witwatersrand

Witwatersrand

The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...

. From the south, the Western Bypass begins at the Diepkloof Interchange in Soweto

Soweto

Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...

, where it splits from the N12

N12 (South Africa)

The N12 is a National Route in South Africa. It is maintained by the South African National Roads Agency.- Route :The road starts in George in the Western Cape and ends in Witbank in Mpumalanga. The road runs roughly from south to north, however, once it passes Kimberley in the Northern Cape, it...

 freeway. The Western Bypass ends at the Buccleuch Interchange, where it merges with the N3

N3 (South Africa)

The N3 is a National Route in South Africa, connecting Johannesburg and Durban, respectively South Africa's largest and third-largest cities. Johannesburg is the financial and commercial heartland of South Africa, while Durban is South Africa's key port and one of the busiest ports in the Southern...

 and M1

M1 (Johannesburg)

The M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway is a major freeway in Johannesburg, South Africa. The highway connects the southern areas with the city centre and extends further north through Sandton...

 freeways. The interchanges with which it coincides are (from south to north): Rand Show Road, Soweto Highway, (soon to be an interchange with the N17 highway), Maraisburg Road, Gordon Road, 14th Avenue, Beyers Naudé Drive, Malibongwe Drive, William Nicol Drive, and Rivonia Road.

The Western Bypass is the longest section of the Johannesburg Ring Road

Johannesburg Ring Road

The Johannesburg Ring Road is Africa's most famous beltway. It is made up of a subset of the freeways that circle the city of Johannesburg, South Africa and services the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area. Construction on the Ring Road began in the late 1960s...

. The freeway is mostly three lanes wide in either direction, but fans out into six lanes between Rivonia and Buccleuch, where there is heavy traffic moving north towards Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

. The Western Bypass is part of the N1

N1 (South Africa)

The N1 is a South African National Route, running from Cape Town to Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe. It is also the main road link between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and forms the first section of the famed Cape to Cairo Road....

 road that spans the length of South Africa, which is the beginning of the famed Cape to Cairo Road

Cape to Cairo Road

The Cape to Cairo Road or 'Pan-African Highway', sometimes called the Great North Road in sub-Saharan Africa, was an imperial dream envisioned by the British Empire that would see a road stretch the length of Africa, from Cape Town to Cairo, similar to the Pan-American Highway...

.

Improvements

By creating a narrower emergency shoulder, the freeway was widened during the 1990s from two lanes to three lanes in either direction, to alleviate massive traffic congestion

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...

 on Johannesburg's roads.

From 2007, the Western Bypass was included in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), which will improve traffic conditions in the province and create jobs in construction. Three of the benefits for users of the bypass will include lighting for the full length of the bypass, increased lanes in most parts of the bypass and increased capacity at the northern interchanges with the bypass. The trade-off for this will be a toll project, aimed at the entire national road network in Johannesburg.

Very noticeably, the road is no longer concrete in construction, but has been tarred for its entire length. This spells a death-knell for its "Concrete Highway" nickname.