Chris Day: Why the O-Bahn project is half-baked

NOW that workers are ripping up Hackney Rd and axing trees in Rymill Park, O-Bahn commuters can start planning what to do with an extra three and a half minutes each morning and afternoon.

Roses ripped out for Obahn roadworks on Hackney Rd, Hackney. Picture Campbell Brodie

• Time savings from $160 million O-Bahn extension might be lost
• Trees chopped down in Adelaide Parklands for O-Bahn extension
• Family threatens to sue over constant O-Bahn tunnel project noise

NOW that workers are ripping up Hackney Rd and cutting down trees in Rymill Park, O-Bahn commuters can start planning what they will do with an extra three and a half minutes each morning and afternoon.

Boiled eggs for breakfast, anyone? Put an extra kilometre on your evening jog? Listen to Waterloo by ABBA?

They are all better than sitting on a bus, I guess, but the seven minutes a day saving for northeast bus passengers is not worth the $160 million the State Government is spending to extend the O-Bahn to Grenfell St.

The government predicts the project will reduce congestion on the city’s ring road, saving drivers about 80 seconds on the way home from work.

It’s hardly a victory for work-life balance.

And the Transport Department this week refused to rule out moving some of the existing O-Bahn bus stops from North Tce, which for many workers and students might mean longer walks to catch a bus, therefore cancelling out any time savings.

On top of that, Hackney residents are angry about construction noise and bans on right-hand turns into their suburb, while Parklands campaigners are livid at the destruction to Rymill Park.

It’s no surprise former Transport Department chief Rod Hook labelled the project a waste of money.

The government argues the O-Bahn extension is vital for the city’s planning over the next 30 years.

It will lower travel times, reduce crashes on Hackney Rd and improve the “amenity” along East Tce, according to government material spruiking the project.

The Rann and Weatherill Labor governments have a strong record of improving transport in this state. They have delivered a duplicated Southern Expressway, the Northern and Port River expressways, a better Britannia roundabout and the tram extension to the Entertainment Centre.

But most people I know are left scratching their heads at the government’s commitment to the O-Bahn extension, which is more half-baked that the drunken Irish backpacker who drove his van along the tracks a few years ago.