Demolition of Glen Osmond Rd eyesore

[stumpjumper]

Some relief from heavy interstate transport congestion funnelling into the city for points north (eg Port Adelaide), as well as relieving the same pressure on Portrush Road could happen if the latest suggestion for a bypass rail line from Tailem Bend behind the Mt Lofty Ranges to north of the city. If a road were built alongside the rail track, then a lot of the heavy traffic making its way through the metropolitan area to Port Wakefield Road could take the new route. If a connection were built west to Dry Creek then even the traffic to Port Adelaide might take the new route.

The new railway is costed at about a billion dollars and would probably be a federal/state project.

[skyliner]

Off topic somewhat - but relevant as to freight movements in the area of concern. I have read of this rail proposal as a 'semi serious' option. Would probably enhance Darwin traffic from Melbourne. Interesting how the superway, connector etc fit into that overall scenario concerning freight movement.

SA - STATE ON THE MOVE

[Raider]

I have heard that the demolition of these buidings was to allow for a better left turn facility from Fullarton Road. On the other topic of the of the freight rail diversion, I believe this is to go from Tailem Bend to just south of Truro. A road following this path would surely take longer for road freight than going through the city.

[rhino]

I have heard that the demolition of these buidings was to allow for a better left turn facility from Fullarton Road. On the other topic of the of the freight rail diversion, I believe this is to go from Tailem Bend to just south of Truro. A road following this path would surely take longer for road freight than going through the city.

I don't think the diversion would go from Tailem Bend, as that would entail building another bridge over the Murray. More likely it would follow the old Monarto-Sedan railway route to a point where it can negotiate the escarpment to climb out of the Murray Valley. From what I have read on the subject, this would likely be near Truro, then through a place called Fords, near Kapunda, and meat up with the northern mainline near Mallala.

Considering today's freight is usually required "just-in-time" (people don't want warehousing bills so they don't want to store stock, so they want their stock turning up when they need it), the new rail route would need to get freight from Tailem Bend to Adelaide, via Mallala, in less time than the current route, for rail not to lose it's transport share. The cost of maintaining rail lines means that the current South Mainline would be abandoned, so all freight to Adelaide would be via Mallala, effectively making Adelaide Freight Terminal a dead-end destination off the Melbourne-Perth and Melbourne-Darwin routes. If this rail freight cannot speed up delivery, the just-in-time factor would mean that the freight would be lost to road, increasing the number of trucks on the roads delivering freight to Adelaide.

So, while a road alongside the new railway bypass might take Melbourne-Perth or Melbourne-Darwin traffic out of suburban Adelaide (and remember that on these long-haul routes, road only has a 20% share of the freight), there's the distinct possibility that heavy road freight will increase between the Tollgate and the Adelaide Freight terminal at Regency Park if the rail bypass goes ahead.

[skyliner]

I have heard that the demolition of these buidings was to allow for a better left turn facility from Fullarton Road. On the other topic of the of the freight rail diversion, I believe this is to go from Tailem Bend to just south of Truro. A road following this path would surely take longer for road freight than going through the city.

I don't think the diversion would go from Tailem Bend, as that would entail building another bridge over the Murray. More likely it would follow the old Monarto-Sedan railway route to a point where it can negotiate the escarpment to climb out of the Murray Valley. From what I have read on the subject, this would likely be near Truro, then through a place called Fords, near Kapunda, and meat up with the northern mainline near Mallala.

Considering today's freight is usually required "just-in-time" (people don't want warehousing bills so they don't want to store stock, so they want their stock turning up when they need it), the new rail route would need to get freight from Tailem Bend to Adelaide, via Mallala, in less time than the current route, for rail not to lose it's transport share. The cost of maintaining rail lines means that the current South Mainline would be abandoned, so all freight to Adelaide would be via Mallala, effectively making Adelaide Freight Terminal a dead-end destination off the Melbourne-Perth and Melbourne-Darwin routes. If this rail freight cannot speed up delivery, the just-in-time factor would mean that the freight would be lost to road, increasing the number of trucks on the roads delivering freight to Adelaide.

So, while a road alongside the new railway bypass might take Melbourne-Perth or Melbourne-Darwin traffic out of suburban Adelaide (and remember that on these long-haul routes, road only has a 20% share of the freight), there's the distinct possibility that heavy road freight will increase between the Tollgate and the Adelaide Freight terminal at Regency Park if the rail bypass goes ahead.

Rhino, this is why I mentioned the bypass as a semi serious idea. Taking away from the SE line, esp. with increased hills dev't seems wrong to me. ROAD bypasses kill bypassed towns in many cases - traffic brings business. Melbourne - Perth - Darwin traffic can go straight through - less business for our yards.
(make us like a backwater)

SA - STATE ON THE MOVE

[JamesXander]

How do we expect to add 30,000 more residents to the Hills, when GO road is already completely full?

every year it takes longer and longer to get to the city during peak hour, and that is because the Hills is growing so fast. Yet we want to accelerate that growth with no plans what so ever to deal with that growth. The only PT we have are buses, which slow down GO road!


This is just crazy, and I can't believe more hasn't been made of it.

[monotonehell]

... The only PT we have are buses, which slow down GO road!..

Buses don't slow down roads, they speed them up.

Take all those passengers out of the buses and put them all in cars and see how much faster GO road becomes.

[crawf]

Maybe introducing two reversible lanes could be the answer to fix the peak hour mess?

Though the best solution would be to build a 5km tunnel from the Portrush/Cross Road intersection to Greenhill Road, however it would not be cheap.

[monotonehell]

Maybe introducing two reversible lanes could be the answer to fix the peak hour mess?

Though the best solution would be to build a 5km tunnel from the Portrush/Cross Road intersection to Greenhill Road, however it would not be cheap.

The "best" solution to what problem?

There's 43100 traffic movements on the Freeway, 30800 on Cross Road, 35600 on Portrush Road, and only 25300 on Glen Osmond Road. So you'd prescribe a tunnel to cater to less than 25000 movements (considering that local movements account for possibly 1000 of that)?

[crawf]

Best solution if this state had a endless supply of money ... and I'm talking well into the future, at least 20 years...

The main problem with Glen Osmond Road is that it's very narrow and has no room for expansion, including bus lanes. Not to mention the Adelaide Hills area is growing at a fast rate, so the peak hour traffic is only going to get much worse in the future.

Another problem is cars are allowed to park along Glen Osmond Road during non peak hour, causing countless accidents all the time.

[JamesXander]

Clearly I was stating that the only PT we have are buses, and that form of PT slows down the roads (as opposed to trains). It transfroms GO into a one lane road basically. As all the buses stop and start at each stop.


And as for the number figure, thats irrevelant. Travel time has drastically reduced in recent times, and as we should do with every project, you must look to the future. GO is going to become one of the major arterial roads of Adelaide in 10-20 years.

[rhino]

Actually, very few busses stop along Glen Osmond Road. All the busses that go to the hills are express to Glen Osmond, only doing pick-ups on the way out, and drop-offs on the way in, and there aren't too many of those.

[bay transit]

Actually, very few busses stop along Glen Osmond Road. All the busses that go to the hills are express to Glen Osmond, only doing pick-ups on the way out, and drop-offs on the way in, and there aren't too many of those.

You are not totally correct-Transit Plus buses run on Route 861 all stops to Glen Osmond-to and from the City.Every 15 Mins during weekday off peaks and more frequently in peaks with some Hills services being all stops.There are frequent night time and weekend services as well.

[rhino]

Actually, very few busses stop along Glen Osmond Road. All the busses that go to the hills are express to Glen Osmond, only doing pick-ups on the way out, and drop-offs on the way in, and there aren't too many of those.

You are not totally correct-Transit Plus buses run on Route 861 all stops to Glen Osmond-to and from the City.Every 15 Mins during weekday off peaks and more frequently in peaks with some Hills services being all stops.There are frequent night time and weekend services as well.

Fair enough, but I drive Glen Osmond Road every day, and usually flow with the evening peak. Sure, there are busses, but it's not very often I get held up behind a regular stopper, maybe once a fortnight. The volume of traffic is a bigger problem than the busses. I find myself using the (express) busses more and more to avoid it.

So, while technically you're correct, in practice it's not that noticable.

[Aidan]

Considering today's freight is usually required "just-in-time" (people don't want warehousing bills so they don't want to store stock, so they want their stock turning up when they need it), the new rail route would need to get freight from Tailem Bend to Adelaide, via Mallala, in less time than the current route, for rail not to lose it's transport share.

There are two reasons why this isn't true:

Firstly the main requirement for JIT freight is predictability, not speed. Clients do indeed want their stock turning up when they need it, but in most cases this just means they dispatch it to arrive when they need it. Occasionally there's some ASAP freight, but it's a small proportion of the total.

Secondly, it is the time taken over the whole line that's important, not just the time on one section of it.