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

[drsmith]

The current connection of St Kilda Road with Port Wakefield Road will not allow access to Port Wakefield Road north of the Northern Connector/Port Wakefield Road Bridge as the bridge will only allow for southbound traffic (after the Northern Connectior is built).

If traffic volumes on St Kilda road are too light to justify direct access to the Northern Connector another option is the local road network for access to Port Wakefield Road northbound.

[drsmith]

The following map provides a bit more detail on the proposed route and interchange points.

http://210.247.132.180/alt-host/assets/ ... _route.pdf

The interchange points are clearly Globe Derby Road, Bolivar Road and Waterloo Corner Road. Globe Derby Road and Bolivar Road interchanges are only listed as possibilities.

[monotonehell]

At the very least, the national rail line should be diverted along this route, getting it away from the suburbs would improve safety and speed.. A road freight corridor could be added later.

[fabricator]

At the very least, the national rail line should be diverted along this route, getting it away from the suburbs would improve safety and speed.. A road freight corridor could be added later.

One idea is to keep the existing track, and use it for a 3rd track for suburban trains, to Salisbury and then as a single track to Salisbury North and beyond. The Suburban network is being converted to standard gauge and should be ready around the completion of the Northern Connector. This would also still allow some freight trains to traverse the existing track as needed, for example to serve the Barossa Valley (proposed by the government anyway).

[raulduke]

looks like this one has missed out on this round of funding...

SOUTH Australia will receive $1.7 billion for road upgrades as part of the largest federal transport infrastructure investment in Australia's history.

The states and the territories have signed up to the agreement, which will see $26.4 billion of funds for projects including upgrades of the Pacific and Bruce highways.
The agreement, which was foreshadowed at the February meeting of the Council of Australian Governments, includes federal funding for 120 road and 26 rail projects over six years.

The key projects include the Pacific Highway, NSW, ($2.5 billion), the Bruce Highway, Queensland, ($2.2 billion) and Western Ring Road, Victoria ($900 million).

The SA component of the funding includes $450 million for the Northern Expressway; $500 million for the South Road upgrade; and $80 million for the Dukes Highway.

"We are spending more on rail in 18 months than the previous government spent in 12 years," Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese told the Nine Network on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Mr Albanese said he would enjoy announcing $2 million of federal funding for a $7.3 million sporting pavilion to be built in Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's own electorate.

The funding will be made available for the Waverley Park pavilion under the government's $800 million community infrastructure program.

Mr Turnbull is attending the announcement.

"The hypocrisy of Malcolm turning up to Waverley Park for this announcement - $2 million from the commonwealth contributing to a $7.3 million project in his electorate that he voted against," Mr Albanese said.

"That is I think something that stands for itself."

Opposition transport spokesman Warren Truss said the nation-building package was nothing more than a re-badging of the former coalition government's AusLink program.

"In fact, Labor's package is still $5 billion less for road and rail than what the coalition committed before the 2007 election and seems to be spread over an extra year," he said.

"While ... (Mr) Albanese is today trumpeting that $700 million worth of projects has been brought forward, $6 billion worth of projects have either been delayed or cancelled.

"The minister must now be honest about which projects are now on the backburner."

Key infrastructure projects to be funded over six years under the federal government's $26.4 billion package:

SA - $1.7 billion

$450 million - Northern Expressway

"$500 million - South Road upgrade

"$80 million - Dukes Highway

[drsmith]

looks like this one has missed out on this round of funding...

No mention of the Port Wakefield bypass either but whether that's a lesser contribution with some state government funding remains to be seen.

[Shuz]

From Infrastructure Australia;

Northern Connector Road and Rail Corridor -The Port of Adelaide has shown continuous growth over an extended period and is projected to keep growing, placing pressure on the efficiency of trade movements to and from the port by road and rail. A new rail and road freight corridor is proposed to link the port to
intermodal terminals at Penfield in the north of Adelaide. The 17 kilometre freeway will connect the current under–construction Northern Expressway to Port Wakefield road along with a new dual track national rail freight line to the Adelaide–Perth–Darwin rail freight line. This $2,200 million initiative has the
potential to be delivered through a public–private partnership for the road component.

[drsmith]

This $2,200 million initiative has the potential to be delivered through a public–private partnership for the road component.

So, the government (combined state and federal) don't want to cough up the full cost of building the road.

That being the case, Northern Tollway may be a more appropriate name for the road. Either that or the absence of private funding may result in a delay in the road component of the project.

[raulduke]

This $2,200 million initiative has the potential to be delivered through a public–private partnership for the road component.

So, the government (combined state and federal) don't want to cough up the full cost of building the road.

That being the case, Northern Tollway may be a more appropriate name for the road. Either that or the absence of private funding may result in a delay in the road component of the project.

drsmith - not all PPP's involve tolls - see Peninsula Link as an example

[Norman]

The preferred route has been chosen and a new brochure has been released showing off the features and route of the Northern Connector. The main features are an 8-lane road between the Northern Expressway and South Road, with a bigger interchange at the South Road/Salisbury Highway/PREXY to be constructed, and the dual-track rail connection from Dry Creek to Virginia.

The brochure is here: http://www.dtei.sa.gov.au/__data/assets ... 4_June.pdf

[_MO_]

Wonder what they gonna do at the intersection of the railways and Salisbury highway? Not level crossing, I hope!!

[AG]

Wonder what they gonna do at the intersection of the railways and Salisbury highway? Not level crossing, I hope!!

The diagrams in the brochure show pretty clearly that Salisbury Highway will cross over the new line grade-separated.

[rhino]

I was amazed to see that this road will be 4 lanes in each direction. By the time it's open, in 2017, I'm sure that will be warranted. Good to see some forward thinking.
I wonder how far the dual railway will go?

[deano91]

Great brochure, and it's awesome to see that Adelaide will go from having 0 major interchanges to 2 major interchanges in the space of one project!

[Shuz]

Wow-whee. Ain't this somethin' pretty for this lil' ol' town. 4 lanes seems a bit much, no? Given that the Nexy has 2 lanes and the Prexy has 2 lanes as well, why the need for 4?