[COM] M2 Northern Connector | 15.5km | $867m

[drsmith]

That bridge will be demolished after existing movements are transferred onto the new southbound carriageway in what looks like will be a temporary 2-way format and onto new ramps. Not only will the existing bridge be redundant, the future eastbound carriageway of the Port River Expressway will be realigned behind the northern abutment (under the central span of the new bridge).

Early plans were to upgrade Port Wakefield Road to a freeway between the then planned Northern Expressway and Salisbury Highway however, this was abandoned as costs for the Northern Expressway/PWR upgrade escalated during the then mining construction boom. The first Northern Connector plan that followed had a southern interchange branching off Salisbury Highway east of the present location but that too was superseded with the current design connecting directly to the South Road Superway.

Sometimes, it's just more practical to restart from scratch. The failure here is one of consistent design as part of long term planning.

[SBD]

The current (old) bridge would have opened in 2005 when stage 1 of the Port River Expressway opened. It would have been described as a ridiculous waste of money then to have built the new bridge in case we later needed what is now known as the Northern Connector, five years before the Northern Expressway opened. Does it make much difference now whether it was thought of as permanent, but is now inadequate, or was originally intended as temporary? It's a pile of earth with a bit of asphalt on top and some concrete on the end. I don't think the bridge was changed when the Superway was built, perhaps by then there were plans for the Northern Connector which would render it obsolete.

[Mr Messy]

When the superway was built, they built square abutments on the end as the plans for a northern connector at the point it opened were 6 years old

[SBD]

When the superway was built, they built square abutments on the end as the plans for a northern connector at the point it opened were 6 years old

Yes, so "the plans" by then acknowledged the need to eventually remove the bridge that had been built when the new Port River Expressway continued straight on from the bend in Salisbury Highway.

[ChillyPhilly]

I thought it was common knowledge that the existing ramp was going to be removed and replaced.

I look forward to comparing the interchanges over time - pre-PRExy in 2002 and earlier, to 2005, to now.

[SBD]

I thought it was common knowledge that the existing ramp was going to be removed and replaced.

I look forward to comparing the interchanges over time - pre-PRExy in 2002 and earlier, to 2005, to now.

Before PREXY, it was just a bend in the road from Salisbury Highway to South Road, wasn't it? And before that, Salisbury Highway ended at Port Wakefield Road.

[ChillyPhilly]

I thought it was common knowledge that the existing ramp was going to be removed and replaced.

I look forward to comparing the interchanges over time - pre-PRExy in 2002 and earlier, to 2005, to now.

Before PREXY, it was just a bend in the road from Salisbury Highway to South Road, wasn't it? And before that, Salisbury Highway ended at Port Wakefield Road.

Correct on both counts. South Road ended at Grand Junction Road too.

[rhino]

]Correct on both counts. South Road ended at Grand Junction Road too.

And before that, when I was a kid, it ended at a stop sign at Regency Road. The post for the stop sign was mounted in a 44-gallon drum of dirt, or maybe concrete, and Regency Road had no kerb along the northern side. You had to use Days Road to get to Grand Junction Road.

[Eurostar]

According to an old street directory Magazine Road was known as St Kilda Road, following similar alignment to the Northern Connector. In theory Magazine Road could be a T junction or interchange with the Salisbury Highway extension. Rather than ending at its southern end (Cormack Road) Magazine Road could be extended by corridor between the railway line and the industrial properties and Rosberg Road.

[rev]

]Correct on both counts. South Road ended at Grand Junction Road too.

And before that, when I was a kid, it ended at a stop sign at Regency Road. The post for the stop sign was mounted in a 44-gallon drum of dirt, or maybe concrete, and Regency Road had no kerb along the northern side. You had to use Days Road to get to Grand Junction Road.

Christ, what century was that in?

[Goodsy]

According to an old street directory Magazine Road was known as St Kilda Road, following similar alignment to the Northern Connector. In theory Magazine Road could be a T junction or interchange with the Salisbury Highway extension. Rather than ending at its southern end (Cormack Road) Magazine Road could be extended by corridor between the railway line and the industrial properties and Rosberg Road.

that blue alignment is for the rail portion of the Northern Connector, if it goes ahead

[SBD]

]Correct on both counts. South Road ended at Grand Junction Road too.

And before that, when I was a kid, it ended at a stop sign at Regency Road. The post for the stop sign was mounted in a 44-gallon drum of dirt, or maybe concrete, and Regency Road had no kerb along the northern side. You had to use Days Road to get to Grand Junction Road.

Christ, what century was that in?

The 20th century. Have a look at the 1940 street directory online at https://mapshop.net.au/fullers/full1940.htm - particularly maps 7 and 13. By then, it looks like South Road's current alignment had been widened up to Torrens Road (except for Taylor's Bridge), but not yet given a single name north of what is now Sir Donald Bradman Drive. It hadn't been built past Torrens Road by then.

[rhino]

Thank you SBD, but I certainly was not around in the 1940s! IIRC the time would have been around 1970

[SBD]

Thank you SBD, but I certainly was not around in the 1940s! IIRC the time would have been around 1970

I didn't mean to suggest you were around in the 1940s

1940 sets a lower bound on where South Road went then, it's been gradually creeping further north, getting wider and other improvements. I don't think I remember before it went as far Grand Junction Road, but that has to do with where I needed to go to at that time, too.

[ml69]

And before that, when I was a kid, it ended at a stop sign at Regency Road. The post for the stop sign was mounted in a 44-gallon drum of dirt, or maybe concrete, and Regency Road had no kerb along the northern side. You had to use Days Road to get to Grand Junction Road.

Christ, what century was that in?

The 20th century. Have a look at the 1940 street directory online at https://mapshop.net.au/fullers/full1940.htm - particularly maps 7 and 13. By then, it looks like South Road's current alignment had been widened up to Torrens Road (except for Taylor's Bridge), but not yet given a single name north of what is now Sir Donald Bradman Drive. It hadn't been built past Torrens Road by then.

That old street directory is fascinating. So many roads and entire suburbs have been renamed since then.