Three alternative road options were considered to get trucks off the freeway, but only one was viable
The team that effectively scrapped the GlobeLink proposal looked at other plans to shift freight trucks and trains out of the suburbs. But with costs of up to $18 billion, the sums didn’t stack up – except for one option.
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Experts considered three road options to alleviate longstanding freight issues in the Hills – an $18 billion tunnel and two new highways – but found only one was potentially viable.
Highlighting the challenge to get trucks out of the Hills, a business case prepared by KPMG, which this week dramatically killed off the Liberals’ key pre-election Globelink project, showed three other key options were closely examined.
The options included:
Short South
A 25km highway from Mount Barker to St Mary’s in Adelaide’s south.
Short North
A 37km road connecting Mount Barker and Hope Valley in Adelaide’s north.
Cross Road Tunnel
A 16.6km tunnel from Glen Osmond to Crafers.
The tunnel option, that would run from the notorious intersection at Cross Rd and the South Eastern Freeway, would come with an estimated $18 billion construction cost.
The only option KMPG put forward as a viable option, and only in the long-term, was “Short South” that would link up to the North-South corridor.
Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll has said the State Government will look at options that could link the Hills to the North-South Corridor.
In the short-term the State Government will focus on targeted upgrades of Portrush Rd, Cross Rd and the South Eastern Freeway. Civil Construction Federation boss Phil Sutherland said upgrading Cross Rd from the end of the South Eastern Freeway to the North-South Corridor was the most cost-effective long-term option. In the meantime he suggested designated freight- only lanes along major arterial roads should be considered.
“Heavy commercial traffic moving through urban suburbs and along roads and streets lined with schools, shopping centres and residential buildings, is a dangerous situation,” he said. “The current strategy of dispersing all traffic from the end of the Freeway through the suburbs is unacceptable. “
RAA spokesman Charles Mountain said it was important to capitalise on the investment that was being made on the North-South Corridor.
“We support further investigation into projects to address the need for a safe and sustainable connection between the North-South Corridor and the southeast of the state.” The SA Freight Council has previously recommended a tunnel from the arrester bed at the last downhill corner of the South Eastern Freeway, under the foothills to emerge near the Carrick Hill estate and Brownhill Creek. But KPMG did not consider this option.