Anyone driving between Cape Town's southern suburbs and the City Bowl should build in extra time: the M3 upgrade through Newlands has officially kicked off, and it's not a quick patch-up job. The City of Cape Town's Urban Mobility Directorate says construction started this week and the first phase runs until 18 January 2027, weather permitting.

The opening phase focuses on widening the road shoulder and footway on the M3 outbound between Upper Sidmouth Avenue and Struben Road. There's also work planned at the busy Newlands Avenue and Rhodes Avenue intersection, where drivers will hit a partial lane drop about 80 metres before the junction. That intersection stretch runs from 16 November 2026 to 21 January 2027, deliberately limited to 10:00 to 15:00 on working days to soften the peak-hour blow.

Day-to-day construction happens 07:00 to 17:00, Monday to Saturday. Most of the first phase continues through the festive season, though work pauses briefly over the year-end builder's break.

This is not arbitrary digging. The upgrade targets a known bottleneck on the M3 between Upper Hillwood Road and Newlands Avenue, a stretch that chokes traffic for commuters linking the Southern Peninsula suburbs with the City Bowl. The design drew on public participation processes held in 2022 and 2023, and the City's mayoral committee member for urban mobility, councillor Rob Quintas, says resident input shaped the plan for one of Cape Town's worst congestion points. The City has committed to telling residents what each new phase involves before it starts.

For travellers, the practical takeaway is simple: if you're renting a car in Cape Town, heading to a flight from the southern suburbs, or driving to hikes and beaches on the peninsula, route around or through Newlands with care. Late mornings to early afternoons will be trickiest near the Newlands Avenue intersection once that work starts in November 2026. Allow buffer time if you have a connection to make, and keep an eye on City updates as later phases roll out.

Annoying in the short term, but a smoother M3 by early 2027 is good news for anyone who drives this corridor regularly — visitors included.