Tender called for 16km duplication of South Road to Sellicks Beach

Work to deliver Adelaide residents as far south as Sellicks Beach a duplicated South Rd has begun with a tender called today to plan the project.

Main South Road at Sellicks Beach. A tender has been called to duplicate the road. Picture: Stephen Laffer

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Work to deliver Adelaide residents as far south as Sellicks Beach a duplicated South Rd has begun with a tender called today to plan the project.

Stage one of the works – 10km from Griffiths Drive, Seaford, south to Aldinga, to be built at a cost of $305 million – will eliminate the narrowing of South Rd into two lanes after the Victor Harbor turn-off.

“The duplication of Main South Rd is an important project that will improve road safety and ease traffic congestion,” Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll said.

Stage 2 of the project, another $130 million promised but not yet funded, will continue the duplication for around 6km from Aldinga to Sellicks Beach.

Map showing the Main South Rd duplication. Picture: DPTI

Today’s tender is to plan for both, but the full cost will not be known until it is awarded.

When both stages are completed the dual-lane carriageway for southern suburbs residents will run continuously from the Flinders Medical Centre to Sellicks Beach.

Currently, beyond the Victor Harbor Rd turn-off, Main South Rd is mainly a single carriageway arterial road, despite being one of the principal traffic corridors to the Fleurieu Peninsula.

It is also the major CBD commuter route for the southern suburbs, used by an average 17,000 motorists every day, and this is expected to grow to 40,000 vehicles in 10 years.

In committing to the stage one works in 2017, the previous government said it had been made a priority because there had been 77 crashes – including one fatality – on the stretch of road between 2010 and 2016.

The project was funded in this year’s State Budget, and will create 165 jobs over three years, many from the southern suburbs of Adelaide when works begin in 2019.

Over two stages it is one of the longest highway duplication projects in the state and has caused controversy because the Government must acquire land to widen the road by about 30m.

The project already has an active community group lobbying for the best outcome for residents, with 1300 people joining Facebook’s Main South Road Seaford to Sellicks Action Group.

Since funding was announced the group has made a focus ensuring that underpasses are used to improve local east-west access. Mr Knoll said the planning study would prioritise consultation with the communities affected.