Tea Tree Gully Mayor Kevin Knight, residents, want fix for ‘dangerous’ Golden Grove Rd

FOR 10 years locals have been raising concerns about the state of this major arterial road in suburban Adelaide used regularly by heavy vehicles. They’ve now had enough, saying it’s become too dangerous.

Ebony, 17, of Golden Grove, next to Golden Grove Rd at Golden Grove. Picture: Stephen Laffer

• AAMI reveals worst parts of Adelaide for road crashes
• Commuters in Adelaide hit with massive delays after two separate incidents on South Road
• SA’s most dangerous roads
• ‘Five have died, 80 been hurt — we want action now’

URGENT work is needed to make “dangerous” Golden Grove Rd safer for pedestrians and motorists.

Angry local residents have been backed by Tea Tree Gully mayor Kevin Knight in their bid to demand an upgrade to the major arterial road.

Local trader Brenton Field, who drives up and down the stretch many times each day, said the poor state of the road posed a major risk.

“The surface is quite bad, especially after Greenwith Road,” he said.

“There is poor lighting, it lacks proper lanes for cyclists and it needs footpaths.

“You get plenty of run-off during winter from local quarries, too, if I had a motorbike I wouldn’t use the road to be honest.”

Local resident and regular road user Belinda Yard agreedthe road — which carried increasing heavy traffic to nearby quarries, housing developments and a new shopping centre — was a “disgrace” and unfit.

“We have issues ... from the silt and dust across the road,” she said.

“It is simply a disgrace when ... there is a massive increase in traffic and (there is) movement of the road.

“This is a hazardous road at times and seriously needs to be considered for an upgrade, not just ... filling in holes of the asphalt.”

“The road has not been resurfaced and is dangerous after Greenwith Road.”

Sonia Blackwell, who runs a popular residents’ page on Facebook, said the road regularly filled up with water during winter downpours.

“It is dangerous and poorly lit, council has been trying to get the State Government to do something for more than 10 years,” she said.

Mr Knight said Tea Tree Gully council had spoken to the Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure about the road regularly.

He believed the road, which is a responsibility of State Government, was not a “high priority” for the DPTI.

“It is a complicated issue and council would like nothing better than to work with DPTI to find a mutually satisfactory solution but unfortunately I do not think it has been given a high priority from DPTI as yet,” he said.

“The stretch of road that is of most concern is ... where Golden Grove Rd travels through the historic Golden Grove township.”

Rick Dell’Oro, general manager of Golden Grove Rd business Garden Grove, said he had been in discussions with the council about the installation of trees and barriers to curb some of the noise pollution in the area.

“With several quarries in the area, there is a large amount of truck traffic on this road,” he said.

The DPTI did not respond to questions from Leader Messenger before deadline.