N9 road (South Africa)

National Route N9
Route information
Maintained by SANRAL
Major junctions
Southwest end:	N2 near George
	N12 near George N10 near Middelburg
Northeast end:	N1 at Colesberg
Location
Major cities:	George, Graaff-Reinet, Colesberg
Highway system
National Roads of South Africa ← N8 N10 →

The N9 is one of the National Roads of South Africa, connecting George in the Western Cape to the N1 at Colesberg in the Northern Cape.

Route

The N9 begins just south-east of George at an intersection with the N2. It runs concurrently with the N12 through the center of George and then north over the Outeniqua Pass. At the top of the pass the N12 continues north towards Oudtshoorn, while the N9 turns east to run along the northern side of the Outeniqua Mountains and over Potjiesberg Pass to Uniondale and onwards to Willowmore in the Eastern Cape.

From Willowmore the N9 travels across the Eastern Cape Karoo through Aberdeen to Graaf-Reinet. From Graaf-Reinet it crosses the Sneeuberge through Naudesberg Pass and Lootsberg Pass to Middelburg, where it meets the N10. The N9 and N10 are concurrent northwards out of Middelburg, but after a short distance the N10 turns north-west towards De Aar. The N9 continues northwards through Noupoort to end at an intersection with the N1 just outside Colesberg.

Uniondale Ghost

An urban legend in the "vanishing hitchiker" tradition arose after a girl named Marie Charlotte Roux was killed in an auto accident not far from Uniondale on Easter Sunday of 1968. According to press reports, beginning in 1973 and for years afterward around the anniversary of her death, the girl's spirit hitchhiked along the road and allegedly vanished after being picked up by various drivers. Folklorist Sigrid Schmidt wrote that coverage of the popular tale by the South African press helped spread the Uniondale legend nationwide.^[1]

References

1. ^ Jan Harold Brunvand (26 November 2002). Encyclopedia of urban legends. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 402–. ISBN 9780393323580. http://books.google.com/books?id=zpdvLYZX2kIC&pg=PA402. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 

External links

• South African National Roads Agency
• Route listing
• fr:Outeniqua Pass