$125m green fund announced with latest Torrens to Darlington reveal

Communities around the latest South Road overhauls can look forward to major changes as well, the transport minister says, revealing millions more will be spent on them too.

A dedicated $125 million fund will allow communities near the Torrens to Darlington Project to redesign and further “green” their neighbourhoods.

The project’s City Shaping Strategy will engage with affected communities to enhance their suburbs with local cycling connections, park upgrades and improvements to shared facilities and green spaces.

Transport minister Corey Wingard. Picture: Emma Brasier.

Transport Minister Corey Wingard said the associated fund would include an Our Local Space community grants program and a Supporting Active Travel initiative that will focus on walking and cycling options.

‘We want to make a really positive difference to neighbourhoods near the T2D Project and we want to work with those communities on how best to do that,” he said.

“Individual projects will be identified by those communities through an engagement platform to be revealed next year.”

Our Local Space will fund upgrades, facilities and greening of local parks and reserves within the corridor area, while Supporting Active Travel will improve local streets and corridors, making them easier and safer to walk or cycle.

The announcement comes a day after the release of the project’s reference design, which revealed new details about how motorists will travel through the northern stage between Anzac Highway and the River Torrens.

Flythrough of South Rd redevelopment final stage.

Communities around the road upgrade will also receive facelifts.

Mr Wingard said the fund demonstrated the broad benefits of the project.

“We know the T2D Project will be a huge positive for motorists ... but it also represents a superb opportunity for residents along the corridor to reimagine and remake their own neighbourhoods,” he said.

The project will also look to partner with communities, organisations and councils on a number of other targeted projects.

New flythrough: South Rd masterplan revealed

A section of South Rd near Brickworks Marketplace will be elevated in order to retain local heritage sites, new designs for the full Torrens to Darlington Project reveal.

The design, released exclusively to the Sunday Mail, is a first look at the 10.5km project in its entirety. It will now be available for community feedback.

It is the crucial final piece of the 78km North-South Corridor which, when complete within a decade, will comprise a non-stop connection from Gawler to Old Noarlunga.

The reference design also, for the first time, details plans for the northern stage of the “T2D” project, which stretches between Anzac Highway and the River Torrens.

In addition to the 4km-long tunnels in the southern stage, more than 2km of twin three-lane tunnels will be included in the northern section.

Motorists will travel on a stretch of non-stop motorway between Anzac Highway and the southern tunnel entry and exit points at Hilton, while the parallel South Rd surface road will give access to surrounding areas.

The tunnels will extend to Torrensville, where the northern entry and exit tunnel portal will be positioned near the site of the Torrensville Bowling Club.

The club and Thebarton Community Centre are among properties that will be acquired to make way for the project, while other areas of Kings Reserve will be used only during construction of the complex tunnelling and motorway works.

It is expected the reserve, including Thebarton skate park, will be unavailable for public use for about five years between 2025 and 2030.

North of the tunnel, the plans also reveal the northbound section of South Rd will be elevated between Ashwin Parade and Gawler Ave to preserve the Hindmarsh Cemetery and former Hoffman Brick Kiln at the Brickworks Marketplace.

The vertical option was selected partly because of the narrow area of space between the two state heritage sites. The Thebarton Theatre, the century-old Queen of Angels Church on South Rd, and a heritage-listed air raid bunker at Torrensville will also be spared, as will Richmond Primary School.

The project will acquire land occupied by Warriapendi School at Marleston, but the site will not be required until the end of 2024 before work on the northern stage starts in 2026.

A total of 393 full property acquisitions are identified in the full reference design, with 224 of those to make way for the Anzac Highway to River Torrens section.

Owners of the homes and businesses at West Hindmarsh, Ashford and Richmond were contacted earlier this month and told their properties would be acquired by the end of 2024. But last week it was claimed that some owners were yet to receive formal notification.

The new plans also detail improved east-west connections that will enable motorists to travel across the new motorway to destinations such as the CBD and airport.

These include a reconstructed intersection between James Congdon Drive and Deacon Ave, which will be shifted further north near the southern entry/exit points to the northern tunnel.

Premier Steven Marshall said the “once-in-a-generation” $9.9bn Torrens to Darlington project would underpin the state’s construction industry over the coming decade, creating 4900 jobs and reducing travel times between the River Torrens to Darlington to nine minutes.

Federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said the project would alleviate congestion across Adelaide for both freight and commuter traffic.

State Transport Minister Corey Wingard said the saving of historic sites was a “terrific outcome”.

The designs will be on display for a fortnight at more than 20 shopping centres, libraries and community centres and can be viewed at dit.sa.gov.au/nsc/torrens_to_darlington