[COM] South Road Superway | $842m | 3km

[drsmith]

Also because the WA government had the cods back in the 70's to introduce a fuel levy for freeway building, they do not have the huge backlog of works we have at far more inflated prices. Really...people keep saying WA freeways and transport and infastructure exists because of the resources boom. In reality the current resources boom has only funded developement of the last 15 or so years. because they commenced freeway and rail build 40 odd years ago, they are decades ahead of us, building onto what is already there, and a much less costly proposition.They had a plan for works, they had a plan for funding, they stuck to it. .. a lesson we just dont seem to be able to grasp.

Cheap land was also purchased for major transport corridors under the Stephenson Plan.

[claybro]

And SA sold all of its under the Bannon plan.

[drsmith]

From DTEI facebook... awesome photo imo

225304_506919406027041_1877015510_n.jpg

Where's that photo been taken from ?

If it's the northern end, they've got a move-on.

[monotonehell]

And SA sold all of its under the Bannon plan.

That's a misattribution, David Tonkin committed to selling the corridors. Most of the land had been sold before Bannon was elected Premier.

EDIT: Actually now that I'm trying to look this up there's conflicting information out there. So I can't provide a reference for either assertion.

[claybro]

I cant pinpoint which administration sold the most.they were all at it. I do recall however that the most important tract of land in todays terms to be sold were the the parts that where to form the North/ South corridor through the western suburbs. This final nail in the coffin happened under Bannon. While I think most agree the full scale of the MATS plan was overkill, some strategic inner metro parts could have been retained.

[Waewick]

these threads are a fair indication of what is wrong with SA

who cares who did what 20 years ago, we should be focused on improvement, not on blaming everyone.

[claybro]

Waewick, with all due respect, we have to care what happened 20 years ago, because it leads us to where we are at today.Likewise the decisions of today, will cause repercussions in 20 years time if we dont get it right. And given that once the Superway is finished this year, it will stand there in all its isolated glory with nothing planned for either end to commence for at least another 4 years, we still have not learnt to present a cohesive consistent plan, or the will to make it happen from either side of politics.

[drsmith]

It hasn't been updated for some time, but the current Northern Nonnector project documentation has detailed design and construct from 2014 with project completion in 2017.

Given the discussion above, this could obviously change, but the current pre-construction/construction schedule is pretty much a follow on from the Superway project.

http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/__d ... y_2011.PDF

As also highlighted in the above discussion, it will be the state of government finances that dictate any change in project scope/timing. That being said, the comment above about cohesive planning is one I agree with.

[Aidan]

I cant pinpoint which administration sold the most.they were all at it. I do recall however that the most important tract of land in todays terms to be sold were the the parts that where to form the North/ South corridor through the western suburbs. This final nail in the coffin happened under Bannon. While I think most agree the full scale of the MATS plan was overkill, some strategic inner metro parts could have been retained.

I can't think of a single one. The inner suburban parts of the MATS plan were very destructive, and failing to sell off the land would lower the value of the surrounding suburb, as the threat of being blighted by a freeway would continue. Bannon (if that's who it was) made the right decision.

Most of the worthwhile parts of the MATS plan were built, though not al ways to freeway standard. As for the rest, we can do better!

However there have been references on this site to governments acquiring the land to widen roads and subsequent governments selling it. If this is true, it may be a much more serious blunder - but without the details I can't be sure.

[drsmith]

The offending state government,

In Early 1980 the Tonkin Government won office and the Minister for Transport, Michael Wilson, announced a commitment by his Government to sell off much of the land acquired for possible transport corridors. Shortly afterwards he announced the abandonement of the idea of a connector between Hindmarsh and North Adelaide and the sale of land in the Hindmarsh area.

Much debate continued about the other proposed freeways in MATS, particularly the North-South Freeway. In February 1982 Wilson announced that the corridor would be halved in width and truncated south of Darlington. The idea of a high speed freeway was abandoned, although a corridor from Dry Creek to Darlington was to remain as a concept pending consideration of a redesigned, narrower road. In the immdeiate term, extra traffic was to be accommodated by the widening of South Road between Torrens Road and Daws Road.

Then, in June 1983, the North-South Corridor was completely abandoned - the disposal of land eesnetial to the project making it impossible to revivie should the need emerge. The abandonement of this freeway, the last surviving element of MATS, had a tremendous impact on the Highways Department as it was the first time in their history that the Government had rejected the strong recommendations of the Commissioner. It undermind the key elemt of what had been the Department's plans for Adelaide's future transport needs and struck at the Department's proud record of independence from politics. In a morbid coincidence Commissioner for Highways, Keith Johinke, suffered a heart attack and stroke two days later, causing his abrupt retirement.

Thus, with the death of MATS talk of freeways went somewhat quiet in the ensuing years.

http://www.ozroads.com.au/SA/freeways.htm

[claybro]

Once again Aidan...No one here seriously doubts the MATS plan in its entirety would have destroyed the fabric of inner Adelaide.It has been discussed ad nauseum on here. What most people object to is the sale of land, by apparently first the Tonkin, then finally the Bannon governments of the strategic NORTH/SOUTH corridor. As for the most important parts being built?...The most important link is missing and unplanned even today,that is the stretch from Darlington to Regency. That anyone in power doubted the need for a major NORTH/SOUTH metro expressway in a metro area 90km long by 20km wide just shows all our state politicians do not think past making a quick buck for the next election.

[neoballmon]

Got some pictures today but my camera's not on me at the moment so I'll upload them in the next couple of days.

As for the discussion of the Northern Connector being a toll road, I'm completely for this, and would use it (assuming it's not ridiculously expensive) but I would really hope that the private company that undertakes the project brings the design back to its former glory, with at least 3 (but 4 would be perfect) lanes in each direction. And out of interest, would the train line associated with the project come separately from the government or would this be included in the toll road?

And the North-South corridor of the MATS plan should definitely have been retained. Hindmarsh's excessive interchange shouldn't have been a part of it. That, along with our current PRExy extended at freeway standard along Montague Road (I'm assuming most development along here has occurred SINCE the shelving of MATS), and maybe something in the small corridor to Glenelg along the current creek line would be more than enough, providing links to the majority of metropolitan Adelaide.

[drsmith]

Once again Aidan...No one here seriously doubts the MATS plan in its entirety would have destroyed the fabric of inner Adelaide.It has been discussed ad nauseum on here. What most people object to is the sale of land, by apparently first the Tonkin, then finally the Bannon governments of the strategic NORTH/SOUTH corridor. As for the most important parts being built?...The most important link is missing and unplanned even today,that is the stretch from Darlington to Regency. That anyone in power doubted the need for a major NORTH/SOUTH metro expressway in a metro area 90km long by 20km wide just shows all our state politicians do not think past making a quick buck for the next election.

I accidently ended up on the first page of this thread when checking it this evening. Nice render of a South Road underpass of Grange and Port Roads and of the Outer Harbour railway. That was seven years ago. It was the priority then, 600m long and ultimately sunk without a trace. A $70m study has since been done on upgrading the inner metropolitan section of South Road and that too has suffered the same fate. It just costs to much relative to SA's economy.

The unfortunate reality is that road transport users in Adelaide will suffer for a very long time for the mistakes of past governments.

[Waewick]

Waewick, with all due respect, we have to care what happened 20 years ago, because it leads us to where we are at today.Likewise the decisions of today, will cause repercussions in 20 years time if we dont get it right. And given that once the Superway is finished this year, it will stand there in all its isolated glory with nothing planned for either end to commence for at least another 4 years, we still have not learnt to present a cohesive consistent plan, or the will to make it happen from either side of politics.

yes I understand it got us here, but in reality, it isn't going to get us forward thinking about the past.

I agree with the conclusive plan, but finger pointing at the past, isn't the way to bring both parties together.

[Waewick]

can anyone access the article in the Australian today which suggests the Government ignored adivce from a internal department on the superway?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6586383231

I don't have the access..