East London is serviced by two national roads: the coastal N2 highway connects it to King William's Town, Makhanda, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town to the west and Mthatha and Durban to the east. It is the southern end of the N6, which runs north via Komani and Aliwal North to Bloemfontein. Older sections of the N2 have been renumbered the R102. The R72 is an alternative route to Port Elizabeth, via Port Alfred. The R346 is an alternative route to King William's Town. East London, like South Africa's other major cities, uses Metropolitan (or M) routes as a third tier for its major intra-city roads.