Boulevard of broken promises: Unfinished roads compounding Adelaide Hills traffic woes
A crucial connector road through the state’s fastest-growing region is incomplete – with Mount Barker’s mayor conceding up to a third of the route may not ever be finished.
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A main arterial road set to run through Mount Barker’s major housing developments to connect residents to the freeway is incomplete – and may stay that way, the local mayor says.
Heysen Boulevard, the connector road that runs through 1300 hectares of the growth area, has been constructed in a piecemeal fashion by developers.
Mount Barker Council says that roughly 60 per cent of the road is complete but numerous sections don’t connect.
Aerial photos show a section of Heysen Boulevard broken up by the Steamranger railway line, with a level crossing needed between the Bluestone and Minters Fields residential estates.
Mount Barker resident Dronie Ward said the “boulevard of broken promises” had been creating chaos and traffic would worsen as housing and retail developments continued.
“I’ve had people contact me and say I drop my child off at the railway line and she has to climb over the fence to get picked up by a friend’s mum every day,” he said.
“Other sections not linking up (has left people) stranded with no footpath because of Heysen Boulevard not being done.”
“We’ve got Woolies about to open up so we are going to get even more traffic on residential roads.”
Mount Barker Mayor David Leach said while developers had been completing sections of the road, up to a third of the route might not be “developed ever” with council unable to fund construction.
“The connector road is a complicated issue because there are deeds that have been entered into with the state government for parts like the level crossing, deeds entered into for two-thirds of the road with developers,” he said.
“(The) one-third left that may not be developed ever or developed for a long time and those sections of the road, as well as the level crossing, are problematic in that council doesn’t have the funding to do it themselves and don’t have legal responsibility to do it themselves.
“That 60-80 metres is the responsibility of the state government and council is actively engaged in discussions with DIT (Department for Infrastructure and Transport) to reach a resolution.”
In February, the Mount Barker District Council endorsed its Building South Australia’s Second Largest City – Mount Barker report, with the council calling on the state government to make sure the needs of a growing population were met.
The report stated $100m would be needed for the completion of the remaining 40 per cent of the Heysen Boulevard connector road.
Mr Leach said he understood public frustration around the state of the broken road corridor.
“The people who live out that way want to see it no more, no less than I do … as the mayor, the road infrastructure concerns me, my council and my staff the most and we are actively in discussions with the government.”
A Department for Infrastructure and Transport spokesperson said the department had undertaken a review of the yet to be completed sections of the Heysen Boulevard and the proposed level crossing was a “key gap in this link road”.
“Although Heysen Boulevard is a council road which is to be delivered by and paid for by developers of the land in the Mount Barker Growth Area, the department is currently undertaking a planning study for this proposed level crossing to determine the required works and their potential cost,” the spokesperson said.
“The department will continue to work with council on this matter, including options for funding the required works.”
The spokesman said the government had allocated $40m as part of the 2023-2024 State Budget to upgrade the roundabout located at the intersection of Adelaide Rd, Alexandrina Rd, Wellington Rd and Flaxley Rd in Mount Barker, identified as a priority upgrade to support ongoing growth within Mount Barker.
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