[U/C] M2 North-South Motorway

[rev]

Drive through Darlington an hour ago and night works have commenced.

Flood lights are setup for workers along the stretch adjacent to the university oval.

I drove through late monday arvo and night and all that I could see happening was demolition of properties on the eastern side(flinders side), and on the way back late at night around the area some line marking was going on...

[rev]

It looks like those high screens appearing on sections of the T2T project will be a feature to prevent car drivers at least from viewing the works.

This safety measure has been a feature of recent widening of the Kwinana Freeway south of Perth.

I'm not sure if it's just for or even to prevent people from looking at what's going on.

What is the danger with construction work happening right beside a busy main road?
What does that screen prevent from happening?

[Goodsy]

It looks like those high screens appearing on sections of the T2T project will be a feature to prevent car drivers at least from viewing the works.

This safety measure has been a feature of recent widening of the Kwinana Freeway south of Perth.

I'm not sure if it's just for or even to prevent people from looking at what's going on.

What is the danger with construction work happening right beside a busy main road?
What does that screen prevent from happening?

Rubber necking is a pretty big issue

[Wayno]

Drive through Darlington an hour ago and night works have commenced.

Flood lights are setup for workers along the stretch adjacent to the university oval.

I drove through late monday arvo and night and all that I could see happening was demolition of properties on the eastern side(flinders side), and on the way back late at night around the area some line marking was going on...

The portable electronic signs state night works commence Jan 7.

[Ben]

Kwik Stix has now closed and was being gutted on Tuesday night. Shame to see these shops close, hopefully they can be incorporated into the development somewhere as there is not a lot of choice for hospital workers and the workers in the Bedford park office buildings (over 1,500 people). Excited to see this progress!

[phenom]

There's a part of me that just can't believe these works at various points along the NS Corridor will be finished by around 2018. By that I am not referring to cynicism about whether it will be done on time (I'd be surprised if there isn't a couple of hiccups on such major construction projects) but just the realisation that this is finally happening. The only thing I'd be more excited about is an announcement about impending starts to resolve the parts of South Road (north and south) that meet at the Gallipoli Underpass.

[SouthAussie94]

When were the current T2T and Darlington projects announced? If I remember correctly, it was around the time of the Federal election, making it early/mid-2013. That makes it roughly 2 years from when the announcements were made to when major works commenced (Work commenced mid-2015).

Now I may be getting ahead of myself here, but using those time frames could we possibly expect announcements to be made regarding the next stages of the NS corridor sometime this year? This of course assumes that the next stages will commence once T2T and Darlington are complete.

[Ben]

According to the North-South corridor document they will start preliminary and design work on the next 2 stages 2nd half of this year and major work commence 2018. The next 2 areas are North and South of Anzac highway. This is in the document that plans to have the corridor complete by 2025. the 2030 version is slightly longer start dates and only one project next.

The Federal election will be around September/October this year so we will likely see funding announced then.

[bits]

What does that screen prevent from happening?

I could imagine 2 things being valid reason to have a screen.

It controls/stops dust from blowing from the construction site over the road.
Also prevents rocks or other debris being kicked up from South Road in to the construction area and vice versa etc.

[Hooligan]

According to the North-South corridor document they will start preliminary and design work on the next 2 stages 2nd half of this year and major work commence 2018. The next 2 areas are North and South of Anzac highway. This is in the document that plans to have the corridor complete by 2025. the 2030 version is slightly longer start dates and only one project next.

The Federal election will be around September/October this year so we will likely see funding announced then.

So no plans to deal with the Regency road intersection?

[bits]

So no plans to deal with the Regency road intersection?

It is in the plan to be resolved in the "medium term"
Read this:
http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/__d ... rategy.pdf


Has lines like:
"The non-stop Motorway component of the North-South Corridor will be directly connected to
intersecting arterial roads via interchanges located at Regency Road, Port Road/Grange Road/
Manton Street, Sir Donald Bradman Drive/James Congdon Drive, Anzac Highway, Cross Road,
Ayliffes Road /Shepherds Hill Road and Sturt Road."

"Elevated road over Regency Road
-Mostly commercial/industrial area with some residential properties;
-North-South Corridor over Regency Road requires less land acquisition than other options
considered."

"North of Regency Road to South of
Torrens Road $680m $730m"

Just read the PDF it has loads of information.

[drsmith]

Can the present South Road underpass at Anzac Highway support 3-lanes in each direction ?

The horizontal width of the available road surface there looks to be 23m (4x3.5m lanes + 2x2.5m shoulders (each including 1.5m bike lanes) + 4m central median)). This is estimated from Google sat image assuming traffic lane widths of 3.5m.

After allowing 21m for 6x3.5m and 2m for a minimum 4x0.5m buffer between outside lanes and carriageway barriers, there's no space for the central median barrier itself.

It may be doable if the above slightly under estimates the width of the horizontal road surface there and/or traffic lanes are slightly narrower than the above but it does look a little tight.

It's pleasantly surprising that we will shortly see three major projects on South Road under construction at the same time bit I still think it will be a very long time before the corridor is completed. To some extent, the lowest hanging fruit in terms of ease of delivery/cost and development has been selected with the upcoming build. This is a specific reference to the Northern Connector. 10 years from 2015 is political fantasy (always was) and even 15 years (2030) is optimistic. It will take longer in my view depending on economic circumstances at both the state and federal level and the adoption of tolls. The section north from Anzac highway in particular looks hideously expensive as does dealing with the side issue of the Seaford rail line at Emerson.

I have in the past thought a free-flowing north/south corridor may never be delivered but I'm now more optimistic given the scope of current projects and an overall plan for the future but it will still take a long time.

[ChillyPhilly]

Reckon we'll see changes to the Gallipoli Underpass in the future?

[bits]

Reckon we'll see changes to the Gallipoli Underpass in the future?

The goal is supposed to be 3 lanes in each direction for the North-South Motorway. It would seem silly to leave this choke point where it would merge to 2 lanes for one crossing.
I think it will struggle to fit within the current hole also. I say it will be widened on the east side by one lane width and the other required lane will be found within the existing median and bike lanes etc.

[mawsonguy]

"North of Regency Road to South of
Torrens Road $680m $730m"

This costing is no longer relevant as the T2T has now been extended north past Torrens Road to south of Pym Street. The plan identifies the R1 Road Project Section (North of Regency Road to South of Pym Street) as costing $310m. Recent indications are that the Department may have been over-estimating costs in the post mining boom era. If the real cost is closer to $250 we could see it as a "stocking filler" promise at the next Federal election even though, as the best flowing section of South Road, it probably has the lowest priority. An advatage to the politicains is that they would be able to boast that "we are giving you 50.6kms of non-stop motorway" which sounds more politically sexy than saying "we're going to build 1.3km of freeway".