[COM] Oaklands Crossing | $174m

[urban]

He also promised $2 million to plan an upgrade of Marion Road, which will investigate a grade separation of Marion from the intersection of Anzac Highway to Cross Road.

It will also investigate a grade separation of Marion Road from the tram line to Cross Road, and a tramline overpass of Marion and Cross roads.

It annoys me when people cannot write English that clearly conveys a concept. What does the above actually mean? I suspect that what they are doing is investigating building a bridge for the tramline over Marion and Cross Roads but they have tried to make it sound like it's more extensive.

I'll break it down for you - Grade separation means that the roads or tramline will be constructed at different levels or "grades". He then gave 3 options

Option 1 - Marion Rd going under or over Cross Rd, the tram line and Anzac Highway;
Option 2 - Marion Rd going under or over Cross Rd and the tram line (I'm pretty sure this isn't feasible as there's not enough room to return to grade between the tram line and Anzac Highway);
Option 3 - Constructing an overpass for the tramline that extends over both Marion Rd and Cross Rd.

[PeFe]

From the Advertiser...hopefully the Oaklands grade separation may be funded in the near future

Pressure on Federal Government to use saved $150m on Oaklands Crossing



THE State Government is ramping up pressure on the Federal Government to commit $150 million saved on the Northern Connector project to fund an upgrade of the much maligned Oaklands Crossing.
Before the Federal Election campaign, the Coalition promised $40 million to separate rail and road traffic at the Oaklands Crossing.
But Premier Jay Weatherill said the money falls short of the upgrade’s estimated cost of $190 million — depending on the engineering solution chosen.
Mr Weatherill said allowing money from the Northern Connector project to be redirected was an opportunity for the Federal Government to show how serious they are about the Oaklands Crossing upgrade.
The $150 million freed from the project is believed to be a result of competitive conditions in the construction industry.
The Northern Connector was anticipated to cost $985 million — made up of $788 million from the Federal Government and $197 million from the State Government.
But the State Government says if Commonwealth redirects the money to the Oaklands Crossing upgrade, the total available funding would be $190 million — the total estimated cost.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan said an injection of funds would enable the Oaklands Crossing upgrade to be delivered much sooner.

http://www.news.com.au/national/south-a ... e0691b528e

[Torrens_5022]

Jay Weatherill has just posted on his facebook (approx 15:40) about having funds for this - https://www.facebook.com/JayWeatherillMP/?fref=nf

[OlympusAnt]

Should have built it that way to start with

[Torrens_5022]

Can we also amalgamate Hove and Warradale - about 200m east of the current Hove station, this will help with a future Brighton road grade separation. It takes 6min to go from Brighton to Oaklands approx 3 km - there's no need for Warradale and Hove stations. The Seaford line is very slow in the inner section (Brighton to Adelaide) amalgamating stations is a good idea.

[rev]

He also promised $2 million to plan an upgrade of Marion Road, which will investigate a grade separation of Marion from the intersection of Anzac Highway to Cross Road.

It will also investigate a grade separation of Marion Road from the tram line to Cross Road, and a tramline overpass of Marion and Cross roads.

It annoys me when people cannot write English that clearly conveys a concept. What does the above actually mean? I suspect that what they are doing is investigating building a bridge for the tramline over Marion and Cross Roads but they have tried to make it sound like it's more extensive.

Eh more like the writer was trying to meet a minimum word count or something.

[Norman]

Can we also amalgamate Hove and Warradale - about 200m east of the current Hove station, this will help with a future Brighton road grade separation. It takes 6min to go from Brighton to Oaklands approx 3 km - there's no need for Warradale and Hove stations. The Seaford line is very slow in the inner section (Brighton to Adelaide) amalgamating stations is a good idea.

I think a better option would be to combine the new Oaklands Station and Warradale Station by building the new Oaklands Station over the intersection and demolishing the other. Hove is fine where it is.

[ml69]

From the Advertiser...hopefully the Oaklands grade separation may be funded in the near future

Pressure on Federal Government to use saved $150m on Oaklands Crossing



THE State Government is ramping up pressure on the Federal Government to commit $150 million saved on the Northern Connector project to fund an upgrade of the much maligned Oaklands Crossing.
Before the Federal Election campaign, the Coalition promised $40 million to separate rail and road traffic at the Oaklands Crossing.
But Premier Jay Weatherill said the money falls short of the upgrade’s estimated cost of $190 million — depending on the engineering solution chosen.
Mr Weatherill said allowing money from the Northern Connector project to be redirected was an opportunity for the Federal Government to show how serious they are about the Oaklands Crossing upgrade.
The $150 million freed from the project is believed to be a result of competitive conditions in the construction industry.
The Northern Connector was anticipated to cost $985 million — made up of $788 million from the Federal Government and $197 million from the State Government.
But the State Government says if Commonwealth redirects the money to the Oaklands Crossing upgrade, the total available funding would be $190 million — the total estimated cost.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan said an injection of funds would enable the Oaklands Crossing upgrade to be delivered much sooner.

http://www.news.com.au/national/south-a ... e0691b528e

Wouldn't a better option be to spend the $150M on finishing the Gawler Line electrification for goodness sake? This will really benefit the people in the northern suburbs.

[adelaide transport]

Maybe you should spend some time in the area during peak hours, and then you might have a different perspective on the problems.
The Gawler Line upgrade and electrification has already been budgeted for, with the beginning of work scheduled to commence in this financial year.
As for the existing rail service, commuters have a reasonably good service, so they are not really missing out. This is the least important of the 2 projects.

[PeFe]

I am wondering whether it is better to do the Oaklands overpass and the Brighton Road grade separation (and build a new station equi-distant between Oaklands and Brighton) all at the same time...disruption to the rail line would be no greater than working on one of the upgrades.
At the moment everything feels like such a piecemeal approach.......a little now, a little bit later...always some future disruption because of poor planning/limited funds.

[[Shuz]]

When is the State Government going to get serious about introducing a Level Crossing Removal Program? Its great that Park Terrace at Bowden, South Road at Croydon and Oaklands are getting done but more needs to be done.

The Victoria State Government has a very ambitious one of removing 50 level crossings in 4 years.

They're a great initiative as it delivers an enormous benefit in terms of delivering infrastructure, creating construction jobs, reducing road traffic congestion, improving economic benefits through increased productivity, improving public transport travel times and improving community safety.

Even if we could get really get the momentum going with another 7 or so and get started on the critical ones like Brighton Road, Park Terrace at Salisbury and Marion/Cross Roads, that would be great. Infrastructure development and jobs is what South Australia needs right now.

[ml69]

When is the State Government going to get serious about introducing a Level Crossing Removal Program? Its great that Park Terrace at Bowden, South Road at Croydon and Oaklands are getting done but more needs to be done.

The Victoria State Government has a very ambitious one of removing 50 level crossings in 4 years.

They're a great initiative as it delivers an enormous benefit in terms of delivering infrastructure, creating construction jobs, reducing road traffic congestion, improving economic benefits through increased productivity, improving public transport travel times and improving community safety.

Even if we could get really get the momentum going with another 7 or so and get started on the critical ones like Brighton Road, Park Terrace at Salisbury and Marion/Cross Roads, that would be great. Infrastructure development and jobs is what South Australia needs right now.

Because they are seriously expensive. $150M for the Oaklands Park one, wow.

Having said that, DPTI should definitely do a study and prioritise the rest of these for when funds do become available.

[Vee]

A draft policy on SA Govt Railway Crossings Safety Strategy has been released. You can provide feedback via a Survey.

(The Oaklands Rail Crossing proposal in this thread gives some indication of the huge costs involved for specific solutions eg grade separation.
This Safety Strategy doc covers issues/safety at all State railway crossings, road level and pedestrian, rural and metro.)

Download the Strategy doc (link below). The YourSay survey closes 9 Sept 2016.
The Strategy doc contains charts/tables - incidents by line section, by road level vs pedestrian crossing and maps showing locations of railway crossings in SA. Key issues, treatment options and strategies for pedestrian crossings plus metro and rural railway crossings are summarized as key points for quick reference.

Risks at rural crossings and potential options include reference to sighting, short stacking, complacency, inactive lines, speed limits and AAWS (advance warning).

How can we improve safety at railway crossings?
The State Government is reviewing all level and pedestrian crossings in South Australia to improve safety on the rail network.

Like many states, South Australia needs to consider closing existing crossings and discouraging construction of new crossings.

The Government will invest $12 million over the next four years for a program of upgrades at crossings while also considering reducing the number of railway crossings.

http://yoursay.sa.gov.au/decisions/your ... tegy/about

[Norman]

The current Rail Commissioner is very serious about safety and level crossings, so I expect him to lobby hard for these things when it comes time for the election and budgets and so on.

[OlympusAnt]

If they were serious about level crossing safety etc. they would have removed it properly back in 2008 when Oaklands was originally "upgraded"