State Government has no immediate plans to widen Curtis Road in Adelaide’s north
A council is trying to hand over one of northern Adelaide’s busiest roads to the State Government in a bid to get it widened. But any fix will still be years away.
Playford Council has asked the State Government to hasten the widening of a road frequently choked with traffic.
Curtis Rd has become one of the most congested in Adelaide’s northern suburbs as Munno Para, Smithfield Plains, Andrews Farm and Angle Vale have expanded.
Traffic regularly comes to a standstill, especially when trains are using the level crossing at Munno Para, causing problems for emergency vehicles.
Playford Council, which has responsibility for Curtis Rd, has applied to the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure to reclassify it as an arterial road.
However, any moves to make it four lanes instead of two could be several years away, as the project will depend on State Government funding.
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll said discussions were happening between council and DPTI about the future of Curtis Rd.
“The road will be targeted for duplication in the future,” he said.
“Should the road be reclassified, the allocation of funding for an upgrade will need to be considered against other priorities for State Government investment.”
Mr Knoll said DPTI was collecting information from council as part of the negotiations to reclassify Curtis Rd.
Traffic counts last year showed around 14,700 vehicles were using Curtis Rd each day at the Northern Expressway end while 16,200 vehicles were counted at the Main North Rd end.
“By comparison, Stephen Tce at Walkerville carries up to 22,300 on a two-lane road,” said Mr Knoll.
“At face value there appears to be available capacity along Curtis Road.”
Meanwhile, a lengthy campaign by residents to obtain government funding for a roundabout at the intersection of Curtis Rd and Heaslip Rd has been unsuccessful.
Mr Knoll has written to Angle Vale councillor Clint Marsh, who led the campaign, saying the intersection had not been classified as an accident black spot.
“Nominations made for Black Spot Program funding are prioritised for their relative crash risk, benefit cost ratio as well as considered against other competing projects on a statewide basis,” he wrote.
“At this time, the project has not been successful to secure the funding under 2019-2020 Australian Government program.
Notwithstanding, DPTI will continue to monitor the performance of this intersection and review the priority in line with other statewide projects when funding becomes available.”
Cr Marsh, who also has asked Playford Council to fund the intersection, said he was disappointed but would continue to lobby for the upgrade.