Truck catches fire on Adelaide’s South Eastern Freeway, causing major delays
A passing motorist has filmed the moment a truck burst into flames on the South-Eastern Freeway, causing huge delays for motorists heading into the city.
SA News
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Traffic was at a crawl for peak-hour city-bound motorists on Thursday after a truck caught fire on the South Eastern Freeway, in the latest heavy vehicle breakdown on the busy thoroughfare.
Police and emergency services were called to the SE Freeway, near the Mount Osmond exit, just after 3am after truck caught fire.
The 29-year-old driver was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
City-bound traffic was restricted to one lane until the truck was towed from the road at but speeds were reduced into the afternoon.
Last month the State Government announced they would invest $12 million into a north-to-south freight route between Murray Bridge and Annadale, bypassing Adelaide, in an effort to get trucks off the freeway.
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll said work on the freight route would start in September.
“We’ve worked with the Federal Government to secure funding to upgrade the bypass to get more trucks off the South Eastern Freeway and also extend the third lane to Stirling to help ease congestion,” Mr Knoll said.
“Getting more trucks off the South Eastern freeway will improve safety, bust congestion and hopefully help improve travel times on the freeway, particularly for residents of the Adelaide Hills who use the freeway every day.”
It follows another SE Freeway traffic jam in March, where a truck carrying chickens rolled, causing 6.5 hours of traffic restrictions for motorists. Another incident occurred in April, where a truck carrying a load of timber caught fire near Leawood.
Adelaide Hills Council spokesman Peter Bice said the council sees drawing heavy vehicle traffic away from the freeway as an extremely important step in improving safety and reducing congestion.
He said an improvements to the National Rail Freight would make the freeway more practical and improve safety for residents in bushfire season.
“An improved rail link could potentially: reduce traffic congestion and delays, reduce noise in
suburban areas, reduce bushfire risk, and improve safety at level crossings and on the SE Freeway,” Mr Brice said.
An independent bushfire review of the 2019 Cudlee Creek bushfires released last week found inadequate evacuation plans caused a 6km traffic jam at the height of the Adelaide Hills fires that had the potential to kill those caught in the blaze.
