of the M2 motorway was under tender or construction was beginning on the motorway. 1968 Work on the Siemert Road / End Street route making up part of the eastern bypass was completed. 1970 By this year, the Heidelberg Interchange was nearing completion. 1971 Construction of the Crown Interchange that would connect the M1 North–south route with the M2 was postponed when the tenders received were consider too expensive. 1972 The Crown Interchange tender on the M1/M2 was finally awarded and a completion date set for 1974. Heidelberg Interchange on the M2 eastern section was opened and connected the eastern CBD bypass to the N1 in the northern suburbs. A section of the M2 freeway between the Maritzberg Interchange and Heriotdale off-ramps had been completed and was opened to traffic between those two sections. Work on the section called the Kazerne Viaduct east of the Heidelberg Interchange was still under way. 1973 Part of the route connecting the Crown Interchange to the Westgate Interchange was now open to traffic. Work on the section called the Kazerne Viaduct east of the Heidelberg Interchange was still not completed. 1974 The M2 was now fully open with the completion of the Kazerne Viaduct east of the Heidelberg Interchange. Work connecting the M2 to the N3 Eastern Bypass on the eastern border with Germiston was not completed as the Geldenhuys Interchange was still being built by the Transvaal Roads Department. 1978 This year saw the completion and opening of the Geldenhuys Interchange which saw the M2 connected to the N3 Eastern bypass. Final cost The final cost of the twelve-year M1 and M2 project was R85.5 million through the awarding of twenty-seven contracts. The Provincial and National government's contributed R21 million of the final cost while land acquisitions represented 19% of the final cost. The project moved 8.3 million cubic metres of land made up of 0.3 million cubic metres of rock, 8 million cubic metres of slime and earth. Eighty new bridges were constructed and ten mine dumps moved. Seventy kilometres of drainage pipes were laid and 500,000 cubic metres of concreted poured. References Streets and roads of Johannesburg Highways in South Africa Johannesburg Ring Road Metropolitan routes in Johannesburg