Major changes to the Torrens to Darlington reference design revealed in ‘draft’ Transport Department website

Big changes to the Torrens to Darlington plan have been accidentally released on a ‘draft’ website – but the Transport Minister says it’s not finalised. The community wants clarity.

Residents are calling for clarity after major changes to the Torrens to Darlington design – including more property acquisitions and removal of both elevated roadways – were revealed on a draft Transport Department website.

The start of construction has been pushed back from 2024 to 2025, while the first tunnel-boring machine will start tunnelling in 2026. The project’s completion date has also been delayed another year to 2032.

The website – which was published on the government’s network but was only discoverable through an advanced Google search – was hurriedly locked down within 15 minutes of The Advertiser publishing this story.

As of 10.45am on Monday, visitors are now told they have to sign in to access the content.

It reveals a departmental review commissioned by Labor shortly after the state election has recommended three “significant changes” to the reference design.

At the Anzac Hwy intersection, the elevated right-hand turn ramp has been removed “in response to clear community feedback”, and a second northbound exit ramp has been added at ground level to reduce traffic.

“This solution significantly reduces the number of trees which need to be removed but does result in more property acquisition,” the site says.

It does not specify exactly where or how many extra homes will need to be acquired.

Hidden website reveals major changes to Torrens to Darlington designs.

The North-South draft website was locked down to a sign-in page at 10.45am on Monday, October 17 and is no longer publicly available.

At the northern end of the northern tunnel, near Brickworks Marketplace at West Hindmarsh, the review recommends moving the road east to take South Rd southbound over the corner of the Hindmarsh cemetery.

That would facilitate the removal of the elevated road “in response to community feedback about the visual impact of this part of the design”.

“This allows some parcels of residential land in Jervois Ave to no longer be required for acquisition but does require additional industrial land acquisition on the eastern side of South Rd,” the site says.

Jervois Ave resident George Czerwinski, who has lived at his property since 1982, said he had not been told whether his home would be one of those saved.

“I had no idea, I haven’t had any communication from anyone about it for months,” he said.

Jervois Ave resident George Czerwinski has called on the government to be upfront with residents about the future of their properties. Picture: Tom Huntley

“The guy across the road, he just sold his house ... he didn’t want to live across from it, and now they've changed their mind.”

Mr Czerwinski said he would be “mostly happy” if he was able to keep his home, but said he then be left to deal with the uncertainty of the impact of the road project.

He said residents were currently in limbo and called on the government to be upfront about the future of their properties.

“We just need answers, we need to know what’s happening so we can move forward,” he said.

At the southern end, where Clovelly Park homes have already been demolished to make way for the project, the end of the tunnel would be moved 400m to the north.

That shift, the site says, would simplify construction and improve safety by “reducing the traffic weave” for vehicles emerging from the Darlington section of the North-South Motorway.

An image uploaded onto the draft DIT website shows the Anzac Hwy intersection with no elevated road.

The elevated roadway at the Anzac Hwy intersection has also been removed, and a second northbound exit ramp at ground level has been added to reduce traffic. Picture: Supplied

A spokesman for Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said this afternoon that a “wide range of options” was being examined, the review was ongoing and would be finalised at the end of the year.

“Material contained on a draft website relating to the Torrens to Darlington project contains inaccuracies and does not constitute any final recommendations of the State Government’s review of the project,” the spokesman said.

But Mr Koutsantonis would not say which parts of the website were inaccurate.

Opposition spokesman Vincent Tarzia said it was “outrageous that Peter Malinauskas and Tom Koutsantonis have been sitting on these plans, while the futures of families and business owners impacted by this project hang in the balance”.

“Communities have been crying out for clarity about the design change and we now know Peter Malinauskas has all the answers, but he’s deliberately kept them in the dark.

“These home and business owners deserve transparency, so Peter Malinauskas must release this reference design immediately to try and save face.”

The elevated roadway at West Hindmarsh, which has been removed from the design following community feedback. Picture: Supplied

It does not reveal the updated cost estimate for the project, which is believed to have blown out to about $14bn.

A Frequently Asked Questions page says the review has taken into account community feedback on the Liberals’ reference design, which was released in November last year.

But further work is required, including more community consultation, before an updated design to the same level of detail can be provided.

“As part of this process, the project will engage with local communities to gain their insights about how the design changes affect their neighbourhoods,” the site says.

“While the core elements of the project design — such as the tunnel lengths and portal locations — are confirmed, these local insights will be used in this Reference Design development.”

Following the engagement process, the project team will review the feedback and return to the community in early 2023 with details on “what we have heard and how it is being considered as part of the design development process”.

A Project Assessment Report will be made available for public feedback in the third quarter of 2023, the site says.

Asked on Sunday when the review would be completed, Premier Peter Malinauskas said: “We’ve been honest about this from the start, we’re going to have this piece of work completed by the end of the year”.