Media Statement - 9th November 2007
Federal Labor today announced funding for three road projects for South Australia.
A Rudd Labor government will invest $500 million to fix Adelaide’s South Road – one of the city’s busiest links and worst road arteries.
It will also provide:
- $80 million towards safety upgrades including overtaking lanes, rest areas and pavement reconstruction for the Dukes Highway, which has a poor safety record, including the tragic loss of two lives just a week ago, and
- $3 million to investigate the feasibility of moving the main freight line through Belair north of the Adelaide Hills.
South Road moves some 70,000 passenger, commercial and heavy freight vehicles on a daily basis from one end of metropolitan Adelaide to the other.
Intersections along the corridor are increasingly congested and significant delays are being experienced.
Federal Labor’s $500 million in funding will deliver flyovers and the first stage of a non-stop motorway from the Southern Expressway to the Port River Expressway.
The Coalition’s promise of only $250 million for this critical link shortchanged Adelaide and won’t deliver the road that local motorists and the South Australian economy and infrastructure needs.
Federal Labor’s $500 million will be provided between now and 2014, and will construct South Road flyovers at the major bottleneck intersections of:
- Grand Junction Road,
- Cormack Road and the Wingfield Rail Line, and
- Sturt Road.
Federal Labor’s plan for South Road also includes $70 million to get started now on planning for a traffic light-free road all the way from the Southern Expressway to the Port River Expressway.
The study will be the first step in making the project a reality, and include geotechnical investigations, community consultation, environmental assessments, traffic modeling and detailed cost estimates.
South Road is the key freight artery in South Australia, linking its diverse productive regions with the Port of Adelaide and markets around the nation and overseas.
Freight coming into the port along this corridor ranges from the wines of the Barossa to grain and seafood from the Eyre Peninsula, timber and cereals from the south east, and defence products, cars and electronics from Adelaide.
The freight industry in South Australia is worth $3 billion a year, or 5 per cent of State GDP, and employs 4.5 per cent of the State’s workforce.
To help alleviate the bottlenecks, the South Australian government is already taking action to build an underpass at the Anzac Highway intersection and a tram overpass.
Federal Labor’s funding today will get rid of more bottlenecks on South Road at Grand Junction Road and Cormack Road / Wingfield rail line.
It will also allow work to start on the Sturt Road intersection, and include it in the national network, with the extension of the Adelaide Urban Corridor from Sir Donald Bradman Drive to the Southern Expressway.
Today’s announcement builds on Federal Labor’s $451 million commitment to the Northern Expressway and the upgrade of Port Wakefield Road, made on 22 August 2007.
These are important projects at the top of South Australia’s priority list, not the bottom.
Federal Labor has always said that AusLink II spending will focus on Australia’s national economic priorities – productivity gains in export supply chains and the general freight task, integrating land transport with ports and airports, and easing urban congestion.
With urban congestion in Australia estimated to cost around $30 billion a year by 2015, unchoking our major cities must be one of our top priorities.
Federal Labor is serious about getting rid of traffic gridlock and improving the liveability and economic efficiency of our cities and suburbs.
In Adelaide, a non-stop South Road from the Southern Expressway to the Port River Expressway is essential to meet that goal.