South Rd upgrade between Torrens Rd and Torrens River ahead of schedule, under budget
THE Torrens to Torrens upgrade of South Rd will be finished by the end of September — three months ahead of schedule.
- South Rd upgrade: Construction starts between Regency Rd and Pym St
- Work on Outer Harbor rail overpass starts
- New bridge over South Rd for Torrens to Torrens project
THE Torrens to Torrens upgrade of South Rd will be finished by the end of September, three months ahead of schedule.
The new roadway will open earlier than expected and come in $95 million under the originally forecast $896 million budget, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan said on Tuesday.
Mr Mullighan said time and financial savings had been made by using new construction methods and avoiding moving an electrical substation.
The project will create a 4km non-stop section of South Rd between Torrens Rd and the River Torrens.
It includes a 3km lowered motorway running under the intersections of Hawker St and Torrens Rd, and Port and Grange roads, and a rail overpass for Outer Harbor line train services, cyclists and pedestrians.
“This project was due to be completed by the very end of 2018, the end of this year. Now the estimated completion date is by the end of September,” Mr Mullighan said.
He explained that disruption was minimised by building three major intersection bridges just above ground level, then allowing traffic to use the bridges while excavation took place underneath.
“Keeping that traffic flowing ... has meant that the impact of this project has been massively reduced for motorists,” Mr Mullighan said.
“The bridge is built in a period of weeks rather than months, and motorists get that intersection back much sooner than usual.”
The road works began in August, 2015.
Excavation of the 3km lowered motorway is now more than two-thirds complete.
About 250,000 cubic metres of soil has been removed, enough to fill about 100 Olympic-size swimming pools.
“Over the next six months the construction of the lowered motorway will continue and the surface roads will be completed, along with the upgrade of the Croydon Railway Station,” Mr Mullighan said.
The now $801 million Torrens to Torrens project is being jointly funded with $400.5 million each from the federal and state governments.
The $95 million savings by the State Government has been redirected to the planned upgrade of the Oaklands crossing.