R101 (South Africa)
The R101 is a regional road in South Africa that is the designation for old sections of road that were previously the N1, prior to upgrading.
Western Cape
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The R101 begins in Bellville at the R102 and runs to the south parallel to the newer N1 freeway and is called Old Paarl Road. It crosses the Drakenstein Mountains as Du Toitskloof Pass (820m) where the new route bypasses as the Huguenot Tunnel. Through the pass it rejoins the N1 for 8 km until it separates again towards Rawsonville until it joins the N1 again at Worcester. The R101 does not separate from the N1 again up to Kroonstad in the Free State more than 1000 km to the north-east.
Gauteng and Limpopo
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A section of the R101 in Gauteng and Limpopo provinces connects Johannesburg with Polokwane via Pretoria and Bela Bela. The first part connects Johannesburg and Pretoria. It begins at Louis Botha Avenue (forming part of Johannesburg Metropolitan Route M11), intersects with R55 (where it becomes the R101), and continues as Pretoria Main Road (later Old Pretoria Main Road) (East Of The Ben Schoeman Freeway), passes through Midrand, and becomes the Old Johannesburg Road in Centurion (Where It Crosses To The West Of The Ben Schoeman Freeway and becomes parallel to it towards Pretoria), later changing names again to Jan Smuts Drive in Pretoria, where it merges with the endpoint of the N14 Ben Schoeman Freeway at Potgieter Street (now named Kgosi Mampuru Street).
It proceeds northwards through Pretoria Central as Kgosi Mampuru Street (One-Way street) (And As Schubart Street southwards up to the N14 Ben Schoeman Freeway). At the junction with Struben Street, it becomes cosigned with the M4 Eastwards up until Paul Kruger Street, where it turns north. While cosigned with the M4, it is Struben Street eastwards and Johannes Ramokhoase Street (formerly Proes Street) westwards (To the Struben Street junction from Paul Kruger Street).
As Paul Kruger Street, the R101 goes north, Bypassing Pretoria Zoo, through Capital Park and Mayville. Just after Mayville, The R101 cosigns with the M1 Municipal Route of Pretoria until the next junction, where the R101 becomes Lavender Road (The road to the right), The road separating Wonderboom South and Pretoria North. At the next junction with Steve Biko Road (M5), Lavender Road divides into Lavender Road West (For vehicles heading north, By way of a left turn) and Lavender Road East (For vehicles heading south) for about 1 Km up to the junction with the R513 East (Sefako Makgatho Drive, Formerly Zambezi Drive), where it becomes 1 road again to the north.
Going North, It intersects with the R566 Road At Onderstepoort before crossing the N4 Platinum Highway. The R101, The R566 And The M1 Form A Ring-Road Around Annlin West (Separating Pretoria North and Wonderboom Airport). After Crossing The N4, the R101 becomes Old Warmbaths Road and follows the Apies River North-North-East for 27 Km, through Pyramid, to Hammanskraal.
6 Km North of Hammanskraal, just before Carousel Hotel, the R101 enters the North West Province for about 7 Km before entering Limpopo. From Hammanskraal, it is parallel to the N1, passing through Pienaarsrivier. 20 Km north of Pienaarsrivier, the R101 stops being parallel to the N1 and makes a direct line for Bela Bela (Warmbaths) (17 Km), where it meets the R516. The R101 continues by way of a right-turn at potgieter road in Bela Bela and the route makes a 27 Km journey to Modimolle (Nylstroom).
As a straight road passing through Modimolle central, it intersects with the R33. After passing the Phagameng suburb of Modimolle, the R101 turns east towards the bypassing N1 Highway. At Middelfontein, right before the N1 Modimolle off-ramp, the R101 becomes the road to the west of the N1 (Mookgophong Road, later Modimolle Road) heading North-East. After Kransvlei Farm Resort, the R101 continues by way of a left turn at the t-junction to become the straight road through Mookgophong (Namboomspruit). The distance from Modimolle to Mookgophong is 42 Km.
Passing through Mookgophong as Thabo Mbeki Street, it intersects with the R519 at Second Avenue and the R520 at Nelson Mandela Drive. While mostly parallel to the N1, it journeys 51 Km North-East to Mokopane (Potgietersrus). 7 Km South of Mokopane, the R101 Road cosigns with the N11 National Route, becoming Thabo Mbeki Drive, up to Mokopane Central .
In Mokopane Central, the R101 and N11 meet the R518 Road from Zebediela and cosign with it. At the 2nd junction afterwards, the N11 and the R518 become Nelson Mandela Drive (By way of a left turn), leaving The R101 as the straight road through Mokopane North (Thabo Mbeki Drive). After the Mokopane Game Breeding Centre, the R101 turns eastwards to cross the bypassing N1 Highway at its Mokopane North Off-ramp (Sebetiela Toll Plaza) and follow it North-East to Polokwane (60 Km) while being on its eastern side.
As there is a new Eastern Bypass of Polokwane given to the N1, the old road through Polokwane Central (Thabo Mbeki Street and Grobler Street), meeting the R37, Bypassing Polokwane International Airport (Landdros Mare Street), has been given to the R101.[1][2]
The point where Landdros Mare Street and the Polokwane Eastern Bypass meet north of Polokwane marks the end of the R101, as the road heading north to Beit Bridge, Zimbabwe is given back to the N1.
