Torrens-to-Torrens motorway extended
The upgrade of South Road between Torrens Road and the River Torrens will provide an additional 600 metres of non-stop motorway, the state and federal governments announced today.
The $896 million project has been reconfigured to include a new exit point to the north of Hawker Street, extending the non-stop motorway portion of the upgrade.
Federal assistant infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs and his state counterpart Stephen Mullighan also announced today that the tender would be awarded to an alliance of Leighton Contractors, Aurecon Australia and South Australian company York Civil.
Briggs said the competitive tender process had allowed the governments to build a better project without extra cost.
“There will be no increase to the project cost, which involves a three-kilometre section of non-stop road between Torrens Road in Ridleyton and Ashwin Parade in Torrensville, with a two-kilometre section of lowered road,” he said in a statement.
The lowered section – a non-stop motorway – will provide three lanes in each direction, allowing motorists to avoid intersections with Port Road, Grange Road, Hawker Street and the Outer Harbor rail crossing.
Mullighan said the new road would cater for more than twice the volume of traffic that currently uses the road, while improving travel times and reducing congestion on Port and Grange roads.
“This project will also increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists with improved footpaths and improved connections to cycling routes such as the Outer Harbor Greenway,” he said.
Construction is due to begin in mid-2015, with completion slated for the end of 2018.
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The state and federal governments are splitting the cost of the project.
Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Vickie Chapman said the state Liberals wanted to know what was happening next for the upgrade of the north-south corridor.
“It’s been 18 months since Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he wanted to work with South Australia to develop the entire north-south corridor in the next 10 years,” she said.
“The Weatherill Labor Government needs to take advantage of the Prime Minister’s offer and develop a plan to ensure that an upgrade to the entire corridor becomes a reality.”
– InDaily
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