Adelaide City Council set to oppose plans for major upgrade of King William St tram track — over loss of right turns

Adelaide City Council is heading for a showdown with Transport Minister Stephan Knoll over the major upgrade of the tram line and stop along the southern half of King William St.

An artist’s impression of the City South tram stop upgrade to improve disability access and replace the ageing tracks.

The axing of right-hand turns for motorists and 50 parking spaces, to allow for tram stop and track upgrades on King William St, has Adelaide City Council headed for a showdown with the State Government.

Design work is underway on the government’s $17.5 million project, announced last month, to upgrade the City South tram stop for disability access and replace the tracks in the southern half of the street.

Six right-hand turns will be cut and motorists will be banned from the tram lane, with works to start within months.

But a majority of councillors, led by south ward councillor Alexander Hyde, are expected to vote on Tuesday night to lobby the government to retain as many turns and parking spaces as possible.

Councillors would also call on the government to consider allowing cars to stay in the tram lane, and to look at a “split stop” platform.

That means a platform for one direction of tram travel would be on the southern side of the intersection of King William St with Sturt and Halifax streets, and a second platform for the other direction on the northern side.

Cr Hyde told The Advertiser he believed the only right-hand turns that should be removed were the ones around the City South stop itself — northbound King William St traffic turning right on to Halifax St, and eastbound Sturt St traffic turning right on to King William St.

“Accessibility is the number one issue raised by businesses in the city,” Cr Hyde said.

“Removing so many right turns effectively cuts our city in half, making it harder for visitors, shoppers and residents to get around.

“The State Government have done a thorough consultation and I hope my ratepayers’ concerns are reflected in the final design.”

Transport Minister Stephan Knoll took a dim view of the proposal from Cr Hyde, a fellow Liberal Party member.

“If Cr Hyde wants to maintain right-hand turns and the current carparking configuration, that would result in either the footpath, bike lanes or a through-traffic lane being removed,” he said.

“Any or a combination of these could lead to increased traffic congestion and travel delays which would deliver a worse outcome for commuters and the community.”

At least six of the 11 councillors are set to back Cr Hyde on Tuesday night.

Deputy Lord Mayor Houssam Abiad said the project was long overdue, but could be refined.

“I don’t know why Adelaide is the only capital city in the country where we cannot drive on the tram tracks,” he said.

“It has never made sense to me … it would reduce congestion.”

Cars are already banned from driving on the tram tracks north of Victoria Square.

Cr Franz Knoll, father of Stephan, said he would also support the motion.

“We don’t want to destroy that (southernend) of King William (St) like what has happened with the northern (end),” he said.

“The city needs to be accessible.”

Cr Anne Moran also said the council needed to avoid what happened at the northern end of King William St.