Government releases map of proposed tunnel location as part of community consultation

A map showing the proposed locations of two tunnels for the Torrens to Darlington project has been revealed.

The proposed locations of two tunnels that form part of the Torrens to Darlington upgrade have been revealed for the first time in a new map shown to local residents.

As part of the final stage of the North-South Corridor, the map reveals the Transport Department is considering building a southern tunnel between Ayliffes Road and Anzac Highway.

The southern entry point would be just after Tonsley Boulevard, with motorists exiting the tunnel around the Glenelg tram line.

Travelling north, motorists would then enter a second tunnel starting just after Richmond Road, with the off-ramp just before Grange Road and Manton Street.

The tunnels, to be built under South Road, would be three lanes in each direction.

Transport Minister Corey Wingard said the maps were designed to “give the community an idea of what the Torrens to Darlington project may look like”.

“Work on the reference design is still ongoing with regards to exact tunnel entry and exit locations,” he said.

“It’s exciting to see work progressing on this important project, the largest ever job-creating infrastructure project in the state’s history.”

The map was first shown to the community at reference group meetings last week, before being circulated to the wider public as part of a consultation survey this week.

Detailed studies are still underway to finalise the exact layout of the motorway and tunnel portals.

North-South Corridor. Artist impression of River Torrens to Darlington upgate. South Road tunnel. Picture: Supplied

Mandy Doolan, of the South Road Inner West Action Group, said she was expecting “a lot of changes” to the designs proposed in the map.

“That is basically the base guide, and it’s probably going to change a bit from here,” Ms Doolan said.

“With the entry and exit points, I am still a little bit concerned about how much residential they are going to take and how many properties they are going to need to acquire.

“We spoke to an engineer last week, and he was very informative, (but) that hasn’t been decided yet, so there’s a lot of things we don’t know yet.”

Dubbed the “hybrid+” solution, the Transport Department will build a combination of tunnels, lowered and ground-level motorways, as well as overpasses at key intersections.

The project is expected to create up to 4000 new jobs and slash travel time by up to 24 minutes.

Construction of the 10.5km motorway will be SA’s biggest ever infrastructure project to date.

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