Adelaide Hills residents and truckies call for rethink on Hahndorf truck traffic plan

Hills locals and truckies say the government’s decision to divert heavy vehicles from Hahndorf’s main street to neighbouring roads is an accident waiting to happen.

Opposition transport spokesman Vincent Tarzia (right) and Heysen MP Josh Teague (middle) join Hills locals and truckies to protest plans to divert heavy traffic around Hahndorf. Picture: Patrick McDonald

Adelaide Hills residents and truck drivers have gathered to protest the government’s decision to divert heavy vehicles from Handorf’s main street to nearby River Road and Strathalbyn Road, saying the move is an accident waiting to happen.

More than 760 people have signed an online petition in the past three days, objecting to the diversion for up to 130 heavy vehicles a day, which is due to start on November 1.

On Sunday morning, more than 40 residents met with Opposition transport spokesman Vincent Tarzia on River Road to call for Premier Peter Malinauskas to reverse the decision.

Emma Smith has lived on River Road for more than 30 years and is now raising her own family there.

“We are on a corner, we’re one of the properties who are the closest to the road … if a truck was to come around there at too high a speed and lose control, basically that truck would go straight into my children’s bedroom.”

Mrs Smith said, while a purpose-built truck bypass for Hahndorf would be ideal, a better temporary solution would be to restrict parking on Hahndorf’s main street to one side, making room for trucks and buses to pass each other.

“They could put a temporary measure in place by adjusting parking, allowing the hop-on hop-off bus to help with that. That would have a bigger impact, to alleviate the pressure to allow some proper time for consultation and reviews,” Mrs Smith said.

River Rd resident Jasmin Fordham (centre left) with other Hills locals protesting plans to divert heavy traffic around Hahndorf. Picture: Patrick McDonald

Truck driver Ben Simounds, from Simounds Transport, drove a 40-tonne truck to join the protest and said it would be “only a matter of time” before a serious accident or fatality happened if heavy vehicles used River Road regularly.

“I had no option but to drive on or over the centre line, even on blind corners,” Mr Simounds said.

“Lucky there wasn’t a lot of traffic – I’d hate to meet a large vehicle coming the other way. There are several trees that we hit, even using the whole road. There is no way they can safely get down here and meet another vehicle.

“The fact is the alternative route just isn’t safe.”

Mr Simounds said several major trees would need to be removed and others trimmed, power lines would have to be moved, the road would need widening and shoulders would have to be sealed.

“It needs a long time frame and a lot of money to get it to a standard where I would be comfortable driving down here with a heavy vehicle,” he said.

Mr Tarzia said Freedom of Information documents including an AECOM report from 2022 showed the true cost of safely sending trucks via River Road could be up to $165 million, result in the bulldozing of 20 to 70 properties and see significant trees cut down.

“We need clarity on the future of the Hahndorf Bypass Project which remains on the chopping block after being under review by Federal Labor for months,’ Mr Tarzia said.

“The review was completed more than a month ago and we still have no answers.”

Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the previous Liberal government had considered four interchange/bypass options for Hahndorf but “left it to Labor to make the hard decisions”.

“We acknowledge more trucks will use the road with our ban on semi-trailers on Hahndorf’s Main Street. It’s not perfect, but it’s far better than destroying this small community with widespread property acquisitions,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“The Liberals now seem to have set their sights on the neighbouring community of Paechtown, where they want to spend significantly more on a bypass that would raze property and farmland, including the iconic Beerenberg Farm, arguably Hahndorf’s most significant tourism drawcard and a major contributor to the local economy.”

Mr Koutsantonis said the government’s $40m solution, which involves shoulder sealing, tree trimming and intersection improvements, meant “no acquisitions, and no trucks on Hahndorf’s main street”.

“And we’ll continue to monitor the impact and consider new longer term options if required,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

River Road resident Jasmine Fordham, 18, said the thought of big trucks and semi-trailers using it was “terrifying”.

“From the perspective of a young driver who quite frequently drives a horse float, I definitely think that road is not suitable (for trucks).

“It’s very windy, there’s a lot of blind corners, and definitely a lot of safety concerns.

“We as a community want to be heard by the government, and to actually come up with and implement a solution that is actually going to fix our traffic issue,” Ms Fordham said.

“Primarily these trucks are not the issue. There’s thousands and thousands of cars that go through Hahndorf, lots of tourists, and that is what is actually causing a lot of congestion, not necessarily just the trucks.”

Member for Heysen, Josh Teague said his local community had been blocked from having

their say.

“It must be stopped. This just will not fly,” Mr Teague said.

“There was zero consultation – zero consultation with industry, zero consultation with neighbours and zero consultation, dare I say, with the local state member of parliament.”