[U/C] M2 North-South Motorway

[SouthAussie94]

I drove past the Heaslip Rd exit 2-3 weeks ago around 4pm-ish. It was banked up for 3-400m onto the Expressway.

Unsure if this is a regular occurrence

[Goodsy]

Further up the NSM, the Heaslip and the Curtis road exits regularly fill up the merging lanes and back out towards the freeway in peak hour.

Has it gotten better in the last couple of years? Up until 2021, the Mark Oliphant College high school zone included areas west of the Northern Expressway, so school pickup would have had lots of cars going west (blocking exit from the expressway) through the roundabout. Since 2022, that area is zone to Riverbanks College at Angle Vale instead.

Nope, it's just getting worse.. And now they're building an Aldi on one side of the Curtis road exit and a Carls Jr on the other side next to Bunnings

It's an absolute dogs breakfast.

[Hooligan]

I think a stop gap measure would be to put traffic lights on the roundabouts at those exits. Just to use during peak hour

[Hooligan]

Further up the NSM, the Heaslip and the Curtis road exits regularly fill up the merging lanes and back out towards the freeway in peak hour.

Has it gotten better in the last couple of years? Up until 2021, the Mark Oliphant College high school zone included areas west of the Northern Expressway, so school pickup would have had lots of cars going west (blocking exit from the expressway) through the roundabout. Since 2022, that area is zone to Riverbanks College at Angle Vale instead.

Nope, just getting worse.

[Goodsy]

I think a stop gap measure would be to put traffic lights on the roundabouts at those exits. Just to use during peak hour

Ultimately they need to redesign the double roundabout interchanges into something with a much higher capacity

[mawsonguy]

Had to go along the freeway this morning for a work meeting going the opposite direction in peak hour.

My God, I could not believe how backed up it gets. All 3 lanes were a parking lot between Ashwin Parade and the Outer Harbor train line bridge in the morning. And in the evening, it was backed up from the Port River Expressway to just after the Regency Road overpass.

Did they expect this level of (induced) demand in the planning?

Not that I'm advocating we may need an additional fourth lane built just yet (and I really don't know how or where that would fit in) but jeez, with increasing population growth, that's bound to keep having a negative compound effect particularly with all the new housing developments in the Northern suburbs.

I regularly travel this section of the M2 at various times of the day. I haven't encountered a problem with banked up traffic northbound as it approached the Port River Expressway. The southbound issues are frequent (like very morning Monday to Friday). Every morning the speed limit is reduced to 60kph at the Port Road exit and it seems like every second day there is a crash at the exit. The exit has been very poorly designed. The problem is a very short exit lane and only one lane at the ramp entry even though the ramp is wide enough for 2 lanes. The result is queue all the way back past Torrens Road of vehicles that are trying to get off at Port Road. Inevitably some queue jumper or inattentive driver tries to push in at the last moment and there is a crash. I have seen the M2 turned into a parking lot in all lanes from the Port Road exit to the Regency Road bridge.The problem will get worse after the tunnel goes in as this will be the only exit for southbound vehicles going to the city.

If you're smart enough to use Google Maps, you will get a warning of a really bad problem and can get off onto the surface road at Regency Road. Unfortunately, everyone gets the same warning and you have heavy traffic trying to get off (and banking up) at Regency Road which conflicts with the south bound traffic coming on just after Grand Junction Road.

I'm surprised the issue has not been addressed in the plan for the tunnels given that I raised it with DPTI several times. Unfortunately, as a result, it will not be a cheap fix in the future.

The only short term (partial) fix is to create an at grade southbound exit just before Torrens Road. That will, at least, get some traffic off the Port Road exit and allow southbound traffic to exit if the M2 turns into a parking lot due to an accident.

[SBD]

I think a stop gap measure would be to put traffic lights on the roundabouts at those exits. Just to use during peak hour

Ultimately they need to redesign the double roundabout interchanges into something with a much higher capacity

The traffic on Curtis Road across the Expressway now is much higher than when it was built, and may well be much more than was forecast from that time. Replacing the roundabouts with lights might make a difference but really the problem is when northbound and westbound peaks interface. The limitation could be that at those times, one lane each way is insufficient over the bridge, too.

The school zone change might take a few years to filter through, if students are allowed to finish at the school they started in. An effect should be a reduction in the school peak across the expressway bottleneck as proportionately more students will live and study on the same side instead of crossing it. The bridge has no bike lanes and a pretty rudimentary footpath on the north side only. There are no walkable destinations near either end anyway.

[Hooligan]

I think a stop gap measure would be to put traffic lights on the roundabouts at those exits. Just to use during peak hour

Ultimately they need to redesign the double roundabout interchanges into something with a much higher capacity

The traffic on Curtis Road across the Expressway now is much higher than when it was built, and may well be much more than was forecast from that time. Replacing the roundabouts with lights might make a difference but really the problem is when northbound and westbound peaks interface. The limitation could be that at those times, one lane each way is insufficient over the bridge, too.

The school zone change might take a few years to filter through, if students are allowed to finish at the school they started in. An effect should be a reduction in the school peak across the expressway bottleneck as proportionately more students will live and study on the same side instead of crossing it. The bridge has no bike lanes and a pretty rudimentary footpath on the north side only. There are no walkable destinations near either end anyway.

Reconnecting Fradd road over the expressway with a bridge may help alleviate Curtis road honestly, Fradd road should also be extended to Coventry road to act as an alternative for angle vale to main north road traffic

[Hooligan]

I think a stop gap measure would be to put traffic lights on the roundabouts at those exits. Just to use during peak hour

So I drove through the Heaslip road exit today and believe it or not, they are putting traffic lights up……

[SouthAussie94]

I think a stop gap measure would be to put traffic lights on the roundabouts at those exits. Just to use during peak hour

So I drove through the Heaslip road exit today and believe it or not, they are putting traffic lights up……

I assume the roundabout will remain, just with added traffic lights?

[Hooligan]

I think a stop gap measure would be to put traffic lights on the roundabouts at those exits. Just to use during peak hour

So I drove through the Heaslip road exit today and believe it or not, they are putting traffic lights up……

I assume the roundabout will remain, just with added traffic lights?

Yep

[[Shuz]]

Are they the fast-frequency ones like you see on the on/off ramps of Melbourne freeways?

[rev]

South Rd resurfacing works between Mile End South and Thebarton finished, St Marys and Black Forest next
South Rd is being smoothed out and resurfaced ahead of work on the tunnels below – one section is finished, with the next stage to start.

Lynton Grace
@LyntonGrace
less than 2 min read
September 17, 2024 - 12:38PM
The Messenger

The next stage of resurfacing work along South Rd has been revealed, with stretches at St Marys and Black Forest in line for upgrades.

Resurfacing work on a northern section of South Rd has finished, creating a smoother ride between James Congdon Drive, Mile End South and Ashwin Parade, Thebarton.

The existing pavement on the 2.4km section of South Rd has been removed and replaced with new asphalt.

It’s part of a $26m project to create a stronger road surface along 6km of South Rd before major works start on the $15.4bn River Torrens to Darlington Project, which includes twin tunnels.

The work – which started in February – aims to ensure the long-term safety and integrity of the road surface above the tunnels.

The tunnels – with a connecting open motorway – will stretch from Richmond to Torrensville and Clovelly Park to Glandore.

About 631,000 recycled glass bottles and more than 3600 tonnes of recycled asphalt pavement were diverted from landfill and reused in the just-finished section.

Using sustainable asphalt saved the equivalent of approximately 127 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of 58 cars off the road for one year.

More than 50,000 vehicles per day use the section of South Rd being resurfaced above where the T2D tunnels will be.

Resurfacing work between Bennet and Norrie avenues – including the resurfacing of the Daws Road intersection – is expected to be completed within weeks.

Once that’s finished, the remaining sections of works between Norrie and Rothesay avenues at St Marys and Glengarry Ave and Cowper Rd at Black Forest will start.

All resurfacing works should be finished by the end of the year.

Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said some sections of South Rd had reached the end of its life.

“The 2.4km northern section of works has been a massive undertaking, but has delivered a smoother and safer ride directly above where the northern tunnels will be,” he said.

“Sustainability has been a priority as part of these resurfacing works and the use of sustainably-sourced asphalt has helped lower the carbon footprint for the T2D Project.

“We have completed more than 6km of resurfacing on South Rd and there is still more to come, with some smaller sections on the southern side to be completed by the end of the year.”

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/subscrib ... nt-1-SCORE

[Ursus Maritimus]

These pictures are from September 20. I thought I'd go to the Black Forest overpass and take some shots of this brief moment in South Road's life - after the land has been cleared but before the tunnels are built and it's still just a 'normal' road.

[Ursus Maritimus]