State election 2018: South Australian Liberals vow to build Wakefield overpass

TRANSPORT and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan says the Opposition has wildly underestimated the cost of a $24 million planned overpass to end bottlenecks at Port Wakefield. TAKE OUR POLL

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TRANSPORT and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan says the Opposition has wildly underestimated the cost of a planned overpass to end traffic bottlenecks at Port Wakefield.

The Sunday Mail revealed Opposition Leader Steven Marshall’s pledge to meet half the cost of building a single lane overpass at the Copper Coast and Augusta highways, with the Federal Government required to tip in the remaining $12.1 million needed.

The intersection has been a long-running pain for holiday makers escaping Adelaide for the Mid North and Yorke and Eyre peninsulas, as well as a site of regular vehicle accidents.

The plan includes taking the Copper Coast Highway over the Augusta Highway, as well as re-routing access roads for smoother vehicle movements at the choke point.

The Liberals have based the cost on the price that the State Government paid to deliver the $18 million McLaren Vale Overpass in 2013, with inflation added on.

Mr Mullighan today told TheAdvertiser.com.au that the two projects could not be simply compared, and the Port Wakefield build was much more complicated and costly.

The Government expects to have departmental advice on a likely real cost on Monday.

Mr Mullighan said the Port Wakefield plan included taking a state highway over a national one, which demanded a much higher standard to sustain regular heavy vehicle traffic.

Mr Mullighan said the overpass would also have to be much larger than the one at McLaren Vale, so large trucks had enough time to safely merge with traffic on the other side.

Under a deal struck between Premier Jay Weatherill and independent MP Geoff Brock to form minority government after the last election, this campaign is the first in which political parties can apply to a new independent Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service for costings.

Mr Mullighan said the Liberals’ failure to do so raised major doubts about their plan.

“It would physically have to be a much larger piece of infrastructure,” he said of the Port Wakefield overpass plan. “It’s clear they’ve just taken what was a very cheap project (McLaren Vale) and tried to fit it to a much larger and complex piece of infrastructure.

“If they had used the PBAS, they would have avoided making the ridiculous assumptions included in this project. “People just can’t have confidence in what they’re saying.”

Mr Mullighan said the Liberals’ image of the Port Wakefield proposal also suggested the Augusta Hwy was to be duplicated, a project with huge additional costs to deliver.

The PBAS’ website reports it has received only 14 requests for policy costing advice.

In March last year, the State Government awarded a $40 million contract to complete a series of works including a $4 million roundabout at the Yorke and Copper Coast highways junction, overtaking lanes near Ardrossan, shoulder sealings and other improvements in the region.

Mr Marshall said the overpass was part of a broader Yorke Peninsula and Mid North plan, and would “end traffic bottlenecks and reduce road accidents” at the notorious intersection.

He said it was used by about 3000 vehicles per day but that number soared to as many as 10,000 during peak times like long weekends, creating traffic jams 10km long.

An artist’s impression of the Liberals’ overpass plan at the Copper Coast Highway and Augusta Highway intersection, complemented by the re-routing of access roads at the intersection.

“Yorke Peninsula is one of Adelaide’s favourite holiday destinations but too often the experience is marred by massive wait times as traffic banks up from the junction of the Copper Coast Highway and the Augusta Highway,” Mr Marshall said.

He said it was an even more frequent frustration for Yorke Peninsula locals, and the upgrade would improve their daily lives while offering a potential boost for the tourism industry.

“The Copper Coast and Augusta highways intersection is so dangerous that locals call it crash corner as a result of its history of accidents resulting in fatal or serious injury,” Mr Marshall said.

“This investment will boost the local economy of Yorke Peninsula by attracting more visitors and improving the freight route to market for farmers’ produce.”

Mr Marshall said the SA Liberals had already held discussions with the Federal Government and were confident of securing the remaining cash needed to make the promise a reality.

The pledge will also provide a boost to the Liberal candidate in Narungga, Fraser Ellis, who’s fighting off a challenge in the notionally safe seat from SA Best candidate and agronomist Sam Davies. Narungga was formerly known as Goyder, and covers the Yorke Peninsula.

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