The N3 Eastern Bypass is a section of the

Johannesburg Ring Road The Johannesburg Ring Road is a set of freeways that circle the city of Johannesburg, South Africa and service the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The entire Ring Road is an e-toll highway (with open road tolling) and is appr ...

that forms a beltway around the city of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, as part of the N3. The first section of the freeway opened in 1971, from Buccleuch to the interchange with Main Reef Road in Germiston. This is one reason why

Germiston Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions a ...

is listed as the southbound destination of this route, from the Buccleuch to Geldenhuys Interchanges, rather than to the Elands Interchange south of Germiston. The remaining section from Main Reed Road to Black Reef Road (Rand Airport Road), which included the construction of the Geldenhuys Interchange, was opened in 1977, linking the Eastern Bypass with the N3 freeway to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. The interchange at Main Reef Road was removed. (Main Reef Road is now an overbridge) Much of the highway forms a border between

and

Ekurhuleni The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng. The municipality itself is a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. The name ''Ekurhuleni'' m ...

. From the south, the Eastern Bypass begins at the Elands Interchange, where it merges with the N12 Southern Bypass. It ends at the Buccleuch Interchange, where it merges with the

N1 Western Bypass The Western Bypass is a section of the N1 and the Johannesburg Ring Road located in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Known at the time as the ''Concrete Highway'', the freeway was initially opened in 1975 as a route to avoid the city cen ...

and M1 freeways. Other exits include M46

Rand Airport Rand Airport is an airport in Germiston, Gauteng, Germiston, South Africa. It was constructed in the 1920s as the main airport for Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City ...

Road (Southbound only),

M2 Motorway This is a list of roads designated M2: Europe * M2 motorway (Great Britain), a motorway in England * M2 expressway (Hungary), a motorway in Hungary * N2 road (Ireland)#M2 motorway, a motorway in the Republic of Ireland * M-2 highway (Monteneg ...

Johannesburg/Germiston (Geldenhuys Interchange), M52 Van Buuren Road, R24 OR Tambo Int'l Airport / N12 eMalahleni (George Bizos Interchange), M16 Linksfield Road, R25 Modderfontein Road, M54 London Road, and M60 Marlboro Road. The Eastern Bypass forms part of the Gauteng e-Toll Project. (The entire highway has

open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The ma ...

)

References

{{Johannesburg freeways Streets and roads of Johannesburg N3 road (South Africa) Johannesburg Ring Road