Aerial pictures reveal progress of $885 million Northern Connector from Adelaide to Virginia

The Northern Connector will join Adelaide to the Northern Expressway — providing a direct link to Gawler. Follow the route with these new aerial photographs.

MOTORISTS have only months to wait until they can drive on the new $885 million Northern Connector direct from Adelaide to Gawler.

The six-lane motorway will link the South Rd Superway at Wingfield to the Northern Expressway at Virginia, slashing travelling times for commuters and freight vehicles.

It will provide direct access from Adelaide to the 23km Northern Expressway — or “Nexy” as it has become known — fuelling further population growth across the northern suburbs.

The 15.5km concrete road is being built by construction giant Lendlease for the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI). A spokeswoman would not give a completion date, referring inquiries to DPTI’s website which says it is due to open “late in 2019”.

However, aerial pictures obtained by The Messenger show significant work remains to be completed, particularly around the Southern Interchange where a bridge is being built across swampland at the Barker Inlet.

Other large excavation activity is happening at the site to construct on and off ramps, with completion dependent on weather conditions

Elsewhere, considerable work remains to finish huge interchanges at Bolivar and Virginia, which will connect the motorway to Waterloo Corner, St Kilda and the Northern Expressway.

As work progresses on the motorway northern councils are bracing themselves for rapid expansion in areas such as Virginia, Angle Vale, Munno Para, Two Wells, Gawler and Roseworthy. Numerous large-scale residential developments are either underway or planned, with tens of thousands of new homes expected to be built over the next decade.

TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE NEW NORTHERN CONNECTOR .

For a closer view, click the magnifying glass icon top right.

The developments are attracting large numbers of first home buyers, many of whom work in Adelaide. Junctions have been installed to provide access to housing estates at Munno Para West, Smithfield, Penfield, Angle Vale and Evanston South.

The four-lane highway begins on the southern edge of Gawler and joins the Northern Connector 2km south of Virginia, where the second stage of its largest residential development, Virginia Grove, is well advanced.

Motorists then drive straight into Adelaide on the Northern Connector from an interchange at Virginia.

Built from concrete produced by an onsite plant, the motorway travels between St Kilda and Waterloo Corner to Bolivar, across the back of the Dry Creek salt fields to the bridge over the Barker Inlet wetlands and onto the South Rd Superway. Another interchange connects to the Port River Expressway and Salisbury Highway.

Playford mayor Glenn Docherty said market gardeners at Virginia would be among the biggest beneficiaries of the new motorway.

“The Northern Connector is set to make our businesses, such as Virginia’s primary producers, more competitive by reducing travel costs and by getting their goods or produce to market quicker,” he said.

“It also will bust congestion and travel time for many of our residents, who will be able to access their workplaces easier than ever before.”

Mr Docherty said while it was “always great” for new infrastructure like the Northern Connector, it also brought challenges for areas experiencing rapid growth such as northern Adelaide.

Among them was the pressure it put on existing infrastructure, particularly roads.

“This is an opportunity to invest in vital infrastructure that maximises the capacity for our community to take advantage of the Northern Connector,” said Mr Docherty.

Playford Council is working with DPTI over the future of Curtis Rd, at Munno Para, which regularly is becoming congested.