[COM] Southern Expressway Duplication | $445m | 22km

[Aidan]

Have alternative proposals actually been put to the Federal Government?

[rhino]

Have alternative proposals actually been put to the Federal Government?

I would assume that the Federal Government looked at the different proposals from the point of view of the National Freight Task, and made their decision on which part of the road their $500million should be spent on. Of course, this is just my assumption.

[DM8]

... and made their decision on which part of the road their $500million should be spent on...

.... probably doing the easiest bit first, avoiding land acquisitions and confrontations with residents along/near South Rd (south of Regency Rd), which would likely result in some pain politically. So with the stretch in question being in an industrial part of town (thus less impact on nearby residents and NIMBYs), and the existing corridor already quite wide in comparison to most of South Rd, from a political view, it seems to me like the easiest bit to do.

But...
Come on, the part between Port and Torrens roads is absolutely disgusting, and at the very least should have been widened to include a central median. I remember hearing talks of undergrounding those power lines over a decade ago - that went quiet. For a stretch of road that's been on the Auslink network for yonks, that's really pretty poor.

Does anyone know if (if so, how much) the feds are contributing to the Southern Expressway? I'm pretty sure it's "off network", and I haven't found anything anywhere which suggests a federal contribution, but it's most unlike SA to solely foot the bill for a $400+ million road contruction project.

[rhino]

Does anyone know if (if so, how much) the feds are contributing to the Southern Expressway? I'm pretty sure it's "off network", and I haven't found anything anywhere which suggests a federal contribution, but it's most unlike SA to solely foot the bill for a $400+ million road contruction project.

I recall Pat Conlon saying the Feds were putting money towards the Darlington Interchange, which would be almost impossible to join to a freeway that changed direction every twelve hours, so it necessitated the building of the second carriageway, to take advantage of the Feds' offer of money for the interchange.

[AtD]

Even just banning right turns between Port and Torrens Rd would allow traffic to flow better.

[Westside]

it's most unlike SA to solely foot the bill for a $400+ million road contruction project.

Unless during an election campaign

[muzzamo]

Where is it confirmed that that traffic lights would be removed from South Road/flinders and South Road/Sturt Road as part of the expressway duplication.

Grade seperation of these intersections would be substantial projects in themselves and hence considerable cost. Based on the estimated cost of two grade-seperation projects in Perth it's hard to imagine that $75m for the Darlington Interchange would purchase anything more than what is indicated in the render.

The 75m Darlington interchange comes out of the budget for the expressway.

The South/Sturt road bit comes out of the budget for the transport interchange, which was the project that actually triggered the need to duplicate the expressway to begin with. All indications have been that this includes the new tonsley/flinders rail station, the grade separation of the rail line and the sturt/south intersection. While the final plans for this have not yet been released the fact that it triggered the expressway duplication seems to suggest its going to happen. From memory the study alone is a 6 million dollar exercise.

Regarding the flinders/South road intersection, given that they will be grade separating the other two intersections i've made the assumption that this will be included too.

[drsmith]

The South/Sturt road bit comes out of the budget for the transport interchange, which was the project that actually triggered the need to duplicate the expressway to begin with. All indications have been that this includes the new tonsley/flinders rail station, the grade separation of the rail line and the sturt/south intersection. While the final plans for this have not yet been released the fact that it triggered the expressway duplication seems to suggest its going to happen. From memory the study alone is a 6 million dollar exercise.

Regarding the flinders/South road intersection, given that they will be grade separating the other two intersections i've made the assumption that this will be included too.

Is there any information around that ties these projects together.

The following link from 2008 has some information on the proposed transport interchange with references to underpasses,
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sa-seeks- ... 1117890327

NORTH-SOUTH corridor including South and Sturt road underpasses and extension of the Tonsley rail line to the Flinders Medical Centre.

This though sounds like it's underpasses for the rail extension to Flinders Medical Centre. The render shows a major intersection (looks like South/Sturt roads) at grade.

An underpass of South Road at Sturt Road was proposed in 2006 and at that time was estimated to cost $140m.

[Norman]

The Port Road/South Road intersection was meant to be getting work done, and funds were actually planned out for it.

The money set aside for the Port/South Road tunnel was cancelled and put back into another project, I think it was shown in the subsequent budget or the mid-year review.

[zap brannigan]

Come on, the part between Port and Torrens roads is absolutely disgusting, and at the very least should have been widened to include a central median. I remember hearing talks of undergrounding those power lines over a decade ago - that went quiet. For a stretch of road that's been on the Auslink network for yonks, that's really pretty poor.

there are parts of that road where tall trucks cant use the left hand lane else they hit a stobie pole... apparently the road angles down quite steeply at the edges.

[zap brannigan]

The South/Sturt road bit comes out of the budget for the transport interchange, which was the project that actually triggered the need to duplicate the expressway to begin with. All indications have been that this includes the new tonsley/flinders rail station, the grade separation of the rail line and the sturt/south intersection. While the final plans for this have not yet been released the fact that it triggered the expressway duplication seems to suggest its going to happen. From memory the study alone is a 6 million dollar exercise.

i heard pat conlon on radio this morning say the study for the whole southern section cost $70M.

and he had a go at the last lib government for setting aside the land for duplication but building the overpasses and bridges for the existing 3 lanes only... hence the high cost of the project since they are the most expensive bits and need to be demolished and rebuilt.

[Ho Really]

[...]

and he had a go at the last lib government for setting aside the land for duplication but building the overpasses and bridges for the existing 3 lanes only... hence the high cost of the project since they are the most expensive bits and need to be demolished and rebuilt.

Are you sure they need to be demolished and rebuilt? Like to know more about this from an engineer's point of view.

Cheers

[rhino]

i heard pat conlon on radio this morning say the study for the whole southern section cost $70M.

I didn't hear Pat yesterday, but I heard him a couple of months ago saying that the federal Govt had put $70million towards a study of the whole freight transport issue for South Australia. IIRC he said that $6million of that was spent on working out what to do at the northern end of South Road before they settled on the "Superway".

Zap, your posts are starting to sound a little less one-sided - well done!

[zap brannigan]

Zap, your posts are starting to sound a little less one-sided - well done!

hey there's an election on... it's our duty to be fair and balanced.

[RayRichards]

How much extra do you reckon would it cost to extend the expressway to and over the Main South/Victor Harbor rd? I thought no more than 120-130 million including new interchange at at the said intersection.

Ray.