The M7 is a
metropolitan route in the
Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality
eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban, South Africa and surrounding towns. eThekwini is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The maj ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
, connecting
Pinetown
Pinetown is a large area that is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet (305 to 395 m).
History
Pin ...
to Brighton Beach in the
Bluff.
Route
The M7 begins at the
M13 off-ramp intersection with the
M19 in
Pinetown
Pinetown is a large area that is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet (305 to 395 m).
History
Pin ...
and follows a route south as a dual-carriage highway named 'Solomon Mahlangu Drive' (previously Edwin Swales VC Drive).
Shortly after, it then meets the
N3 highway (which connects to
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...
) at an interchange and proceeds south-east as a dual-carriage highway. After the
M34 Moseley Park off-ramp, the M7 leaves Pinetown and enters
Queensburgh
Queensburgh () is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that is situated inland (southwest) from Durban and now forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban metropolitan area.
History
The hilly area was settled by people working in Durban wh ...
, winding through the town. It then turns eastwards at the Bellville Road off-ramp before ending as a dual-carriage highway east of Queensburgh at the intersection with the
N2 highway
The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through George, Gqeberha, East London, Mthatha and Durban to Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of makes it the l ...
(to
KwaDukuza
KwaDukuza is a municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates small towns such as Stanger, Balito, Shaka's Kraal, but the Zulu people in the area called it "Dukuza" well before ...
and
Port Shepstone
Port Shepstone is a large town situated on the mouth of the Mzimkhulu River, the largest river on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. It is located halfway between Hibberdene and Margate and is positioned 120 km south of Durban ...
).
It continues eastwards as Solomon Mahlangu Drive but as a dual-carriage roadway and then south-eastwards through Carrington Heights, Sea View and Rossburgh. At Rossburgh, it meets the
R102 at an interchange and co-signs with the R102 for less than a kilometre and immediately afterwards meets the
M4 highway.
After the M4, it goes through Clairwood before intersecting with the
M16
The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-rou ...
. At the M16 intersection it turns left into Bluff Road and immediately turns right into Old Mission Road in a south-east direction again. It changes its name to Gray Inn Road in
Wentworth before ending at the intersection with Marine Drive in Brighton Beach.
References
{{reflist
Highways in South Africa
Metropolitan Routes in Durban