The primary road system in the Prince Albert municipal area consists of national and provincial roads. The N1 runs on a northeast-south-westerly axis and carries approximately 3012 vehicles per day. The N12 runs on a north-south axis through Klaarstroom and connects to Oudtshoorn, George, the Southern Cape region and the N2. The N12 carries approximately 780 vehicles per day. Although a national route, it is a provincial road maintained by Province.

All of the towns within the municipal boundary are accessible either by road or by railway. Leeu-Gamka and Welgemoed are primarily accessible by the national railway and the N1 (connecting to the R353) passing through their jurisdictions. Prince Albert and Klaarstroom have no access to railway transportation. The main town of Prince Albert can only be accessed by main roads, e.g. the R328 (46 km from the N1) and R353 (40 km from the N1) and several secondary roads. The town of Klaarstroom can be reached by making use of the N12, R407 and other secondary roads. Secondary roads provide access to the other rural areas within the municipal area. These roads are mostly gravel roads.

Other provincial roads in our area include the:

• R407 that runs on an east-west axis from Willowmore, through Klaarstroom, on to Prince Albert and in a north-westerly direction to Prince Albert Road, where it connects to the N1. This road is paved all the way from Klaarstroom to Prince Albert Road.
• R328 from Oudtshoorn, a gravel road that runs over the Swartberg Pass, connecting with the R407 at Prince Albert.
• R353, a gravel road that runs from Prince Albert northwards to the N1, close to Leeu-Gamka.

The total roads in municipality amount to 1 741.2 kilometres of roads. The total amount of roads comprise of 257.6 (14%) kilometres of surfaced roads and 1 483.6 (85.2%) kilometres of gravel roads.

The Swartberg Pass connecting Prince Albert with Oudtshoorn is seen as a provincial heritage site.  This Pass needs urgent maintenance and the Municipality is engaging with the Provincial Roads Department and Department of Cultural Affairs to see to the upgrade of said pass.

The maintenance of the roads within the municipal area remains a challenge with a limited operational budget.  The neglect of several years has since culminated in a situation that requires more maintenance and capital expenditure than the limited budget of Prince Albert Municipality can afford.  A survey of urgent maintenance work on roads commenced in the reporting financial year and the results of this survey will have to be addressed in the 2014/15 financial year.

Should you have any queries on roads, please contact the Incident Clerk at tel (023) 5411320, e-mail: rekords@pamun.gov.za