Heavy vehicles, trucks ban for Hahndorf main street

Large trucks will be banned from Hahndorf’s main street in an effort to combat traffic chaos in the popular tourist destination – so where will they go instead?

A truck heads down Main St in Hahndorf – but not for much longer. Picture: Matt Loxton

Large trucks will be banned from Hahndorf’s historic main street in an effort to combat traffic chaos in one of the state’s most popular tourist destinations.

Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis has announced non-local semi-trailers longer than 15m would be redirected down River Road as locals continue to advocate for a traffic solution.

Residents say the busy, narrow strip swells with tourists, daily commuters of the fast-growing Hills region and heavy traffic servicing rural industries, a blend so dangerous it had the potential to end in disaster.

Transport Minister Koutsantonis, Mount Barker mayor David Leach and Hahndorf Community Association chair Greg Lomax in Hahndorf.

Mr Koutsantonis said he shared the safe concerns of the locals and said the new truck ban would see a reduction of around 130 heavy vehicles a day, equivalent to that modelled under previous bypass options.

“Over a million people visit Hahndorf a year, that’s lots of cars that are turning up here every day, up to 8000 cars commute through this area and you add to that semi trailers and add to that heavy vehicles over 15 metres, it can get very congested here,” he said.

“And it can make traversing this very, very dangerous, dangerous for pedestrians, dangerous for businesses and importantly makes it hell for locals.”

The state government will install signage alerting drivers to the changed entry rules by November with traffic diverted to River Road or Strathalbyn Road, routes that will receive a $30-40m upgrade to take on the new traffic load.

A penalty of $423 and a loss of three demerit points is the penalty for drivers who break the ban.

Hahndorf Community Association chair Greg Lomax said members had been advocating for the removal of heavy traffic from the town’s main street for decades and today’s announcement was a win for locals.

Hahndorf main street business owner Amber Kemp, of Roots & Reasons is thrilled large tracks will be taken off the busy road.

“We are pleased to hear the announcement … we recognise it is going to make a significant difference to the safety aspects of the street and the amenity of the town,” he said.

Hahndorf main street business owner Amber Kemp, who lives on site at her Roots and Reasons cafe, agreed, saying large trucks caused havoc on the main street.

“For us, it’s going to be incredible, (heavy traffic) causes such a hassle and it‘s such a danger … tourists are shocked with how much traffic and how big the trucks are and it freaks people out,” she said.

However, not all are convinced with River Road resident Colin Rich saying “a lot of work” would need to be done to make the road fit to take the extra traffic.

River Road resident Colin Rich says he is disappointed not to be consulted about the diversion of heavy traffic onto his road.

He said blind corners and sharp bends already made for congestion problems on the road.

“Every morning I get up and I watch cyclists go down River Road and people get stuck behind them out the front of my house, we are about to add heavy vehicles … it’s significant.”

Road upgrades around Hahndorf, initially expected to cost $250m before the state government ditched plans to build a new interchange at Hahndorf and focus attention on upgrades to interchanges at Verdun and Mount Barker, have been under review by the federal government.

Opposition transport spokesman Vincent Tarzia called the solution a “Band-Aid over a bullet hole” saying the original Hahndorf Bypass Project was the best solution for the town’s traffic woes.

“Federal Labor promised to review the project and others and provide an answer after 90 days … that 90 days was up at the start of August, and we still have no clarity or answers on the future of the project,” he said.

“(Tom Koutsantonis’) decision to ban heavy vehicles from Hahndorf is a clear sign the much-needed bypass project won’t ever go ahead,” he said.

Mr Koutsantonis would not rule out a new bypass but said the new truck ban would work in conjunction with the earmarked upgrades at the Mount Barker and Verdun interchanges which the government says will remove a further 940 cars and smaller trucks from the main street.