Work to start on $2m plan to ease traffic congestion on Springbank Rd

WORK on a $2 million plan to ease traffic congestion on a notorious road in Adelaide’s inner-south is expected to start within months.

Right-hand turning lanes will be added to Springbank Rd.

WORK on a $2 million plan to ease traffic congestion on Springbank Rd is expected to start within months.

Mitcham Council voted at a meeting last week to install a 2.7m wide painted median strip on the road, which would divide it into two 3.3m wide single lanes.

The median strip would include six right-hand turning lanes and parking bays would be built into the existing verge, to improve traffic flow along the notoriously congested road.

The State Government has committed $1.6 million towards the project, and the council will foot the remainder of its cost.

Cr Stephen Fisher told the meeting the upgrade would address community concerns.

“The advantage of the single lane is that it provides safety for right turners, retains a great deal more parking and less disturbance to the present situation,” Cr Fisher said.

The council’s decision comes after community consultation undertaken late last year showed 52 per cent of 1523 respondents supported a painted median strip on the road.

A second option, to install two sets of traffic lights at the intersections of Eliza Place and Kent Rd, was backed by 36 per cent of respondents.

Mitcham Mayor Glenn Spear said the upgrade needed to be signed off by the State Government, but was likely to start in the coming months.

The upgrade comes as the council lobbies for federal funding towards a $30 million plan to realign Springbank, Daws and Goodwood roads, to remove one of the two intersections.