Rundle Rd closes for Illuminate Adelaide winter festival light show
City and eastern suburbs residents are being reminded that a key connector road closes this morning for almost four months, as part of a winter light show.
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Rundle Road will be closed to traffic from Monday morning for the world-renowned multisensory and immersive experience ‘Wisdom of AI Light’, the centrepiece of the Illuminate Festival.
The closure, between East Terrace and Dequetteville Terrace, will be in place for the next 12 weeks.
Pedestrian and cyclist access will be maintained, as well as use of 130 car parks on the eastern end of Rundle Road.
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City of Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor thanked motorists for their patience and understanding.
“The show is exclusive to Adelaide and expected to attract at least 130,000 people to the city’s East End in the middle of winter – providing a welcome stimulus to our traders and economy,” she said.
A small number of bus routes will be affected, with more information available on the Adelaide Metro website.
The show uses artificial intelligence to create large images, many based on brushstrokes by Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci. Elected members have questioned why there was not more community consultation before they were asked at short notice to close the road during a meeting on Tuesday night.
A council staff report said Rymill Park was the preferred location but was ruled out because of a $3.5m upgrade due to start in June.
The works, which involves a new electricity transformer, cabling, mains water supply and sewerage, need to be completed before the festival season next March.
Rundle Park also was considered but the pavilion was too big to fit between large gum trees at its western end.
The council-owned former Le Cornu site at North Adelaide, which hosted a van Gogh-themed light show last year, was unavailable because construction had started on a $250m redevelopment project. The report said Rundle Rd was chosen because it could accommodate the pavilion and would generate business for East End traders.
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