page_title: N2 (South Africa)
section_title: KwaZulu-Natal
hierarchical_section_title: N2 (South Africa) / Route / KwaZulu-Natal
caption_attribution_description: English: mt edgecombe
context_page_description: The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban to Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its total distance of 2,255 kilometres makes it the longest numbered route in South Africa.
context_section_description: At Kokstad the N2 meets the R56 from Matatiele and makes a hard right towards the coast. The R56 separates from the N2 at Stafford's Post, running in a northeasterly direction past Umzimkhulu, Ixopo and Richmond towards Pietermaritzburg. The R56 can be used as an alternative to avoid the toll plaza at Port Shepstone, and one can follow the R56 to Pietermaritzburg, and then using the N3 from Pietermaritzburg to Hillcrest, where one can use the M13 as an alternative to Durban. The N2 eventually meets the coast at Port Shepstone, and is tolled once again. This is also the point where the R61 ends, providing an alternative route to Mthatha through the Wild Coast and eventually Cape Town via Beaufort West and the N1. From Port Shepstone it runs as a freeway past the resort towns of the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, including Umzumbe, Hibberdene, Ifafa Beach, Scottburgh, Umkomaas and Amanzimtoti, before passing on a 3 lane bypass around the city of Durban. At the Westville EB Cloete Interchange, the N2 meets the N3 which heads northwest toward Johannesburg. Major upgrades have been made to existing interchanges with the M19 Umgeni Road Interchange, the bridge over the Umgeni River and the M41 Mount Edgecombe/Umhlanga Rocks Interchange.
  After Durban, the N2 runs as a toll freeway passing through Umhlanga Rocks, Ballito and Tongaat. The N2 runs close to King Shaka International Airport and a tolled off-ramp provides access to the airport. It is tolled twice before the freeway section ends at KwaDukuza (formerly Stanger), once at Tongaat and again before KwaDukuza. It then continues as a single carriageway with two lanes on both sides and passes through sugar cane plantations on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast. It is tolled once again, and for the final time at Mtunzini and meets the R34 which provides access to Richards Bay to the east and Empangeni and Ulundi to the west. The 34 km stretch of the N2 between Mtunzini and Empangeni is being upgraded to a dual carriageway. After Richards Bay, the N2 turns north, moving away from the coast into the heart of Zululand, where it bypasses Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park to the west and runs past the town of Mkuze before running close to the border of Eswatini, passing the town of Pongola.
caption: Newly upgraded Mount Edgecombe Interchange
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