The R42 is a

provincial route A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a state or ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

that connects

Vanderbijlpark Vanderbijlpark is an industrial city with approximately 95,000 inhabitants, situated on the Vaal River in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa. The city is named after Hendrik van der Bijl, an electrical engineer and industrialist. V ...

with

Bronkhorstspruit Bronkhorstspruit is a town 50 km east of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along the N4 highway towards eMalahleni. It also includes three townships called Zithobeni, Rethabiseng and Ekangala. On 18 May 2011, the Tshwane Metropolitan Munic ...

via

Vereeniging Vereeniging ( ; ) is a city located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was forme ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published '' The F ...

and Delmas.

Route

The R42 begins south of

, City of Tshwane, Gauteng, at an intersection with the R25. It goes southwards, bypassing the Bronkhorstspruit Municipal Nature Reserve and temporarily enters Mpumalanga Province.

Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

Province, the R42 continues southwards and crosses the N12 freeway, entering Delmas. The distance from the R25 junction near Bronkhorstspruit to Delmas is 35 km. In Delmas Central, the R42 joins the R50 road. They are one road south-east for 5 km, crossing the R555 in Delmas Central. South of Delmas, the R42 continues by way of a right turn, continuing south-west.

Gauteng

The R42 re-enters

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

Province and meets the R29 road and N17 national route on their route midway between Springs to the west and

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

to the east. The R42 continues south-west, bypassing the

Marievale Bird Sanctuary Marievale Bird Sanctuary is a protected area in Gauteng, South Africa. It is a Ramsar site about 15 km2 in size, and situated on the East Rand on the southern half of the Blesbokspruit wetland. The Blesbokspruit is a major perennial riv ...

and Nigel Dam as Nigel-Delmas Road, to

. The journey from Delmas to Nigel is 43 km. In Nigel, at the Balfour Road junction, the R42 cosigns with the R51 and R550 for a few kilometres westwards, forming the northern border of Nigel's CBD, up to the main four-way junction after the Glenverloch suburb. At this junction, as the R51 continues via a right turn (north) and the R550 continues straight (west), the R42 continues via a left turn. The R42 goes a small distance (15 km) south-west as Heidelberg-Nigel road, following the

Blesbokspruit The Blesbokspruit is a river in Gauteng, South Africa that originates north of Daveyton, from where it runs south and then west past the towns of Springs, Nigel and Heidelberg before joining the Suikerbosrand River, a tributary of the Vaal ...

, to

. Entering Heidelberg, as Jacobs Street, the R42 crosses the N3 highway. At Louw Street, the R42 makes a right turn and a left turn at the next junction to become HF Verwoerd Street. It then intersects with the R23 road at an off-ramp junction just after the town centre and it continues west-south-west, becoming the southern border of the

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is a protected area which encompasses most of the Suikerbosrand Range, South Africa. It is one of Gauteng's most frequented ecotourism locations, located approximately 50 kilometres south-east of Johannesburg, jus ...

. At the junction with the R551, the R42 continues, via a left turn, west-south-west, bypassing Meyerton, to

. The journey from Heidelberg to Vereeniging is 45 km. Upon entering Vereeniging, north of the

Three Rivers East Three Rivers East is a suburb of Vereeniging, Gauteng. The suburb lies on the easternmost end of the city, bordered by the Sugarbush river to the south and east and by an eco estate called Summerview Estate to the West. Three Rivers East is ho ...

suburb, the R42 meets the R54 road from Vereeniging North &

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...

. They are cosigned southwards up to the next junction. As the R54 continues south-east to

Villiers, Free State Villiers is a small town situated on the banks of the Vaal River next to the N3 highway in the Free State province of South Africa, on the border with Mpumalanga province. It is part of the Mafube Local Municipality. It was founded in 1882 on th ...

, the R42 becomes the road west-south-west. It forms the main road through Three Rivers westwards as General Hertzog Road, separating the two sides of the Three Rivers suburb (Three Rivers North from Three Rivers South) and crossing the Klip River. At Peacehaven, the R42 turns southwards, following the Vereeniging Railway, to reach a junction with the R82 road, just west of the R82's

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...

crossing. At this junction, the R42 joins the R82 and they are co-signed westwards, crossing under the Vereeniging Railway, up to the 2nd junction (Voortrekker Street). As the R82 becomes Voortrekker Street northwards through Vereeniging Central, the R42 becomes Voortrekker Street southwards. At the Lewis Street junction, Voortrekker Street (R42) becomes Barrage Road and turns west-south-west towards

. Near the suburb of Powerville, the R42 meets the R59 Sybrand van Niekerk Freeway (west southbound and east northbound off-ramps only). The R42 continues westwards as the main road through Vanderbijlpark, bypassing

Sharpeville Sharpeville (also spelled Sharpville) is a township situated between two large industrial cities, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging, in southern Gauteng, South Africa. Sharpeville is one of the oldest of six townships in the Vaal Triangle. It was ...

and passing the

Vaal University of Technology Vaal University of Technology (VUT) is a higher education institution in South Africa. It attracts students from all over the country. It is one of the largest residential universities of technology, with about 20 000 students, 40 programs, al ...

. Adjacent to Vaal Mall, the R42 meets the R57 Golden Highway at a junction. From the R57 Golden Highway junction, the R42 goes west for a further 15 km, meeting the southern terminus of the R553 road from

Sebokeng Sebokeng () locally called Zweni by residents, is a middle-class township in the Emfuleni Local Municipality in southern Gauteng, South Africa near the industrial cities of Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging. Other neighboring townships include Ev ...

. As the road continuing westwards joins the N1 Kroonvaal Toll Route southbound, the R42 route makes a left turn to become ''Boundary Road'' southwards and continues for 15 kilometres, crossing the

adjacent to the Vaal Barrage into the Free State, crossing to the other side of the N1 toll highway, to end at another junction with the

R59 road The R59 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Hertzogville with Alberton (south-east of Johannesburg) via Bothaville, Parys and Vereeniging. The R59 is a freeway from the R57 Junction in Sasolburg until the N12 Reading Interc ...

approximately 18 kilometres east of the city of Parys, just west of the R59's intersection with the N1 highway.

References

External links

Routes Travel Info
{{DEFAULTSORT:R42 Road (South Africa) 42 42 42 Provincial routes in South Africa