State Budget to include $5.5 million for new South Rd designs, as industry calls for clarity on what piece of puzzle is next

PLANS for the next major upgrade of South Rd will be accelerated in the State Budget, as industry and property owners in the path of a possible wrecking ball call for more clarity.

• May: Governments agree to split cost of North-South corridor
• July: Second South Rd upgrade bridge moves into Darlington
• August: State Government puts tunnels back on table
• — an idea supported by industry and local business

PLANS for the next major upgrade of South Rd will be accelerated in the State Budget, as industry and property owners in the path of a possible wrecking ball call for more clarity.

With the clock ticking down on the Federal Government’s “done in a decade” push to complete a non-stop freeway from Gawler to Old Noarlunga by 2024, The Advertiser has confirmed Tuesday’s State Budget will include $5.5 million for new South Rd design work.

The cash will go towards planning studies which will be sent to the Federal Government by the end of the year and help decide which part of Adelaide’s key road is upgraded next.

But it may not be enough to quell industry concerns the massive project has now hit a “hiatus”, as the simplest upgrades are finished but the most complex and costly work remains.

The State Government in May committed to the Regency Rd to Pym St upgrade, which will complete a 47km non-stop free flow roadway between Gawler and the River Torrens. But that still leaves two challenging “bundles”, immediately north and south of Anzac Hwy.

A planning study released by the Federal Government in 2015 estimated a cost of $596 million on land purchases alone before heavy construction could begin on upgrading the road from Gallipoli Underpass to Darlington. It was estimated a further $375 million was needed to buy land north of Anzac Hwy to the Torrens River before starting work there.

Transport Minister Stephan Knoll has since raised the prospect of tunnels to avoid huge land buy-up costs, and says the Budget will ensure “a strong pipeline of productive infrastructure”.

He said Labor, which announced upgrades including the Torrens to Torrens and Darlington projects that are currently underway, had “failed to invest” in work on the next pieces.

“The Marshall Government is quickly getting on with the job and developing the business cases to get these projects shovel-ready as soon as possible,” Mr Knoll said. “Completing the North-South Corridor is one of the Marshall Government’s infrastructure priorities.”

It is understood past departmental analysis has considered a range of possible above-ground South Rd upgrade paths, which include new lanes on both or just one side of the current road.

There has also been examination of breaking the two remaining “bundles” into smaller pieces.

Civil Contractors Federation SA chief executive Phil Sutherland said there was “a lot of uncertainty”, and people in the possible path of upgrades were becoming reluctant to invest. “We’re looking for a plan, we’re looking for a commitment,” he said.

“There has got to be a plan with some sort of schedule of works to give everyone some certainty.

“At the moment, there is something of a hiatus. We’re operating in a vacuum, and all eyes are on the State Budget. We’d like to see some money on the table at least (for planning).

“We’ve got an incomplete freeway running down the spine of Adelaide and, if it’s not completed, it’s just going to be a dog’s breakfast.

“It’s a mess that has to be sorted out.”

An artist’s impression of the proposed overpass on the corner of Regency Road and South Road. Picture supplied by State Government.

The Federal Government this year pledged $1.4 billion for South Rd, sparking a political dispute in SA over when it would be released and what project it would be used for.

Opposition treasury spokesman and former transport minister Stephen Mullighan said the Federal Government’s “done in a decade” promise was “completely unachievable now”, and the State Budget must provide cash and clarity on which sections would be next.

He said the State Government’s plans to demand expert independent assessments of infrastructure plans was slowing progress by “running it though a bureaucratic process”.

‘We’d sell for the right price’

THE Avoca Hotel at Clarence Gardens, owned by the RSL, is in the path of would-be future projects connecting the Gallipoli Underpass to the Darlington upgrade.

RSL chief executive Kim Henshaw said he was prepared to sell, for the right price.

RSL CEO Kim Henshaw at the RSL-owned Avoca, which is in the path of potential South Rd projects. Picture: AAP / Dean Martin

“If it’s required, then we’d be prepared to consider a reasonable offer,” he said this week.

“In terms of how we would like to see the infrastructure done, I don’t actually think that is something that we have a position on. “We have been told unofficially that it would be at least five years before there is any effect at that end of South Rd.

“The best we can do is run the business on the basis of current information.

“I’d love certainty, but the reality of life is that we don’t generally get that.”

PODCAST: OFF THE RECORD: EPISODE 17

ANALYSIS

- Daniel Wills

STRAP yourself in, this could be a bumpy ride. Complex politics, an engineering nightmare and eye-watering costs collide over plans to upgrade remaining bottlenecks on South Rd.

While it may have been two prime ministers ago, voters will hold the Federal Government to Tony Abbott’s “done in a decade” pledge of a non-stop South Rd by 2024.

And the Liberals now in charge of both nation and state, there’ll be few excuses for Premier Steven Marshall.

Labor remains bruised from failures in government like Oakden and the jobs and energy crises, but it still has a real brand strength on infrastructure.

Not only did it rebuild Adelaide Oval to popular acclaim, the last Government announced billions of dollars in South Rd upgrades and is keeping the pressure on its successor to keep cash and traffic flowing.

Undoubtedly, Labor left the hardest work until last and new Transport Minister Stephan Knoll has a tough task ahead of him.

The fact that he’s even thinking about tunnelling can be taken as evidence of how diabolical the Government fears an above-ground upgrade could be.

Buying out businesses along South Rd would cost hundreds of millions, hence the government’s consideration of tunnels.

Even if the problem of paying for the remaining pieces is set aside, a cost estimated in 2015 at several billions of dollars, a massive public relations challenge confronts the Government.

Businesses like the Avoca and a range of others would very likely have to be bought out. Not all would go willingly. Some would use their position to leverage up the price.

Readers with long memories will remember how much frustration a humble baker and the agitated owner of a pine furniture store caused former premier Mike Rann over the much more modest Gallipoli underpass build. Imagine repeating that with big boys like Castle Plaza.

The new Government is trying to present itself as a troupe of happy toilers, with the clear theme of the coming Budget being the intent to ‘keep our promises and clean up the mess’.

They’re unlikely to find any harder place to do either of those things than on South Rd.

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