National Route 6
| National Route N6 in South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Operator: | South African National Roads Agency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Start of the street: |
Bloemfontein ( 29 ° 12 ′ S , 26 ° 11 ′ E ) |
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| End of street: |
East London ( 32 ° 58 ′ S , 27 ° 55 ′ E ) |
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| Overall length: | 545 km | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The N6 in the Amathole area | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Course of the road
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Map with all coordinates: 
The National Route 6 (short N6 ) is a 545 km long national road in South Africa . This traffic route runs in a north-south direction and connects a central part of the interior with the port city of East London on the Indian Ocean . The road is paved, well developed and leads largely through agrarian and otherwise little used land. Larger cities are only at their two endpoints.
course
The national road N6 begins at its northern end as a junction from the national road N1 south of Bloemfontein . From there it runs through undulating land to the traffic junction in Aliwal North , where it crosses the Orange River . The river forms the border between the provinces crossed. At Aliwal North, a railway line crosses the R58 regional road.
After the city, the terrain profile increases steadily. In the section between Jamestown and Bailey , the N6 crosses the Stormberg massif . The summit is the Penhoek Pass at 1844 meters above sea level . After leaving this mountainous region, the road reaches the city of Queenstown . From here it is closely flanked by a railway line in its south-facing course, runs through the small town of Cathcart and climbs slightly on the eastern foothills of the Amathole Mountains . After the well-developed and not very spectacular mountain passage, the road descends in a wooded area to Stutterheim . In this city, some regional roads begin, which open up the nearby tourist area and the R346 leads to King William's Town . From Stutterheim the N6 runs over a mountainous country, here a regional road branches off to the provincial capital Bhisho , on via Macleantown to its end point in East London on the Indian Ocean. There are several traffic crossings in this port city. This includes the connection to the national road N2 in the direction of Cape Town or Durban , a regional airport, the seaport and the railway lines to Mthatha and in the direction of Port Elizabeth or Middelburg .
Following its main direction, it merges into the R72, which is built like a motorway, in the urban area of East London at Nahoon Valley Park and ends as this in the old city center on Fleet Street .
particularities
Aliwal North is an important regional transport hub. Important regional connections lead from the N6 in a westerly and easterly direction into old farmland and to the border crossing to Lesotho, about 110 kilometers away . The N6 crosses the Oranje with the historic General Hertzog Bridge .
To the north of Stutterheim the road crosses the area of the Amathole Mountains, which form a very rich forest area on the southern slope and are of great importance for the drinking water supply in the Eastern Cape province. This region is an area that was strongly shaped by the border wars in the 19th century and extensive missionary activities.
A railway line runs parallel between Queenstown and Amabele (near Bhisho), which is one of the oldest routes in South Africa. Their former importance lay in the military development of the hinterland as well as in the once lively exchange of goods between the grassy highlands north of Stutterheim and the industrial and harbor town of East London. Before the construction of the railway, the basic course of today's N6 was an important Voortrekkerstraße . Individual memorial monuments, former fortifications and other localities (for example the Thomas River station ) along their current and earlier course are reminiscent of historical events of the conquest by the Boers and British in the border wars, the defensive struggle of the Xhosa tribes or former economic focuses.