Hahndorf link road proposal rejected, but residents say government report forgot about tourists

Residents who want to build a road to send traffic around Hahndorf say a report rejecting their plan is seriously flawed.

A government investigation that rejected a proposed fix for traffic blockading Hahndorf has failed to consider the town’s huge tourism value, locals say.

A residents group said the Transport Department’s cost-benefit analysis of their proposed link road had treated Hahndorf like a standard town – not the hugely popular tourism street it is. They will now seek to hold a public forum to discuss the town’s traffic.

A government spokesperson said the independent analysis found errors in the group’s plan and they were “refusing” to accept the outcome.

The residents’ group proposed a $40m link road around the town that follows an existing unpaved road.

At a meeting last week department officials revealed their cost estimate was $102m, including $10m for land acquisition and $4m to move communication cables.

The estimate report found minimal delays at existing intersections and traffic volumes were “low for this scale of investment”.

The report said a significant section of the link road contained a “steeper gradient” than the current route and the overall economic outcome was “poor”.

Hahndorf Community Association member Jeremy Roberts said it was a “mind-bending meeting” and the department ignored its own figures estimating the link road would cut Hahndorf traffic by up to 30 per cent, when estimating benefits. 

“They kept claiming they have to stay within standard rules – but it’s not a standard town, it’s a tourism town,” Mr Roberts said.

“The department only estimated benefits to the vehicles that take the link road, not the millions of tourists and others that enjoy shorter delays back in Hahndorf.

“I find this an astonishing blind spot for the department – they appear to have no concept about the challenges facing Hahndorf or the potential outsizes benefits should something be done.

“We repeatedly asked senior execs whether benefits to tourism would be measured as part of the economic assessment and were told they would be.”

The group is increasing pressure on the department by releasing videos of tourists dodging traffic that “didn’t show even Hahndorf on a bad day”.

The government spokesperson said the group’s $40m budget didn’t include cost escalation, design, or project management costs and the cost-benefit ratio was “less than the former Liberal government’s abandoned Globelink proposal”.

“It also calculated land acquisition incorrectly and made some incorrect assumptions about the scope of the project,” they said.

“The state government is now getting on with planning for the expansion of interchanges at Mount Barker and Verdun.

“We remain confident these projects will help further reduce traffic on Hahndorf’s main street.”

John Adcock, acting chair of the Hahndorf Community Association, accused Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis of “pork-barrelling” in his own electorate.

“The state govenment seems to think money is better spent in electorates where it gets better electoral value,” Mr Adcock said.

“There was considerable money spent on the South Rd upgrade. There was $90m just announced for Grange Rd – on the corner of Mr Koutsantonis’ electorate.”

However, the government spokesperson pointed out residents hadn’t made similar complaints about $770m currently allocated to Adelaide Hills road upgrades.

They said Grange Rd and South Rd upgrades had a benefit/cost ratio of 1.3, delivering “a significant positive economic benefit for every dollar spent”.

Last year, the state government banned heavy vehicles from the town’s main street in an attempt to traffic, diverting them down nearby River Rd.

The residents group say the cost-benefit report ignored how many trucks would be able to use the link road, instead of River Rd.

The government spokesman said the data revealed an increase of just extra 13 trucks a day down River Rd, but Mr Roberts said it was between 20 and 40.

River Rd resident Ann Fordham said engagement on a solution seemed to have “evaporated”.

The next step is a public forum to discuss Hahndorf’s traffic issues, she said.

“We need to talk about growth in Mount Barker and what people’s experiences and how we can respond, and integrate that into a plan,” Dr Fordham said.

“They are not considering traffic flows from Mount Barker and their solution of the intersection upgrade won’t handle funnelling traffic.”