Hi all!
Thought I'd revive this topic again, what with the Anzac Highway Underpass having recently opened, the
South-East Queensland Infrastructure Plan underway and
Melbourne/ Victoria's Transport Masterplan also underway. Not only that, but the Opposition recently released one of the first
visions from the people in power in a long time, which is good to see. Granted it wasn't about transport, but it was a vision nonetheless.
Notice how Victoria and Queensland have premiers that are of the
Labor Party? see, I'm not a one-eyed Liberal Supporter. I don't give a f*ck (excuse me
) what party they are; just give me a good government, and I'll support them!
Cruise wrote:...are you advocating that Public transport should only be there to serve the mass unwashed?
Of course not. The example of the R8 was meant to be a reference to a previous post made by someone somewhere in one of these forums (Lionel Hutz:
I probably should have mentioned that earlier 
), so I hope none of the posters here took it as being the fulcrum of my argument, because that was not my intention. Sorry Cruise
.
As for PT usage, I'm not at all stating that it should be there to serve the mass unwashed; Public Transport is there as an option for people who want to commute on a daily basis to and from the city. Anyone can use it and anyone can't, it's entirely up to the individual.
That's what I have been trying to say; people should be given choices on how to commute and/or get around Adelaide, it's entirely up to them
how they do so.
Hence, Tollways are there to give people a quick, fast route from the mid to outer suburbs, into the city. If they do not wish to use such a route, they can take the suburban roads. Before anyone jumps down my throat, take a look at the Southern Expressway and the way that it is operated. I remember a few years ago, we were driving down to Victor Harbor and (unfortunately) missed the 'sequence'
. As a result we travelled down Main South Road and got caught at one of those sudden changes in speed limits. A few weeks later, we got a nice letter with a $210 fine. Now, think about it, if the Southern Expressway had a toll of about $2.50 per trip (and obviously was two-way), not only would it take time of people's journey's (like other high-speed corridors do), but the revenue coming in to the government from speeding fines would be compensated through tolls.
Yesterday we went down to Victor Harbor and it was much quicker to go along the Southern Expressway than go along Main South Road, besides aren't you more likely to hit a pedestrain or have a crash,e tc. on Main South Road?
Seriously though, who wouldn't want to pay a small fee to get to their destination quicker and more efficiently. If we don't want to pay the tolls, but still want to get to our destination quicker, well, we've got Dunstan and the voters of the early 70s who were scared that Adelaide would turn out like LA (don't get me started on how
pathetic that it is
) to thank for that. Or people can take the long route: suburbia.
TooFar summed it up perfectly:
TooFar wrote:
What frustrates me is the amount of studies and reports that have looked into the ideal transport system for Adelaide. Generation have gone by and what do we have? A system that has not really changed since the early 70’s. 4 different PT systems with no central terminus. ... a poorly implemented road system where heavy traffic rumbles down residential roads or through the CBD. There comes a time when enough is enough with the studies and just get out and build something. Forget trying to come up with the perfect solution and just copy some other proven processes. I mean look a the Britannia round-a-about, is it really that difficult to come up with a workable solution.
I spent 30 years living in Adelaide reading about new proposal for underground train lines, extended train & tram line, freeways, bridges, tunnels, multi-function-polis (remember that one) ect. Most of these came to naught. Meanwhile the rest of the country developed in leaps and bounds. For me personally, that was enough, so I left. I did not want to live in a city of studies, but a city of solutions. I have lost patience for theories. I wanted to get real life experience as opposed to reading about it in a book.
For me, building a North-South freeway is a proven system that will move people and goods in a quick and effective manner across the metro area. They are safe, and for a climate like Adelaide, relatively simple to maintain. Freeways work, I have experienced enough first had to know that. I don’t need to read another report. If it is good enough for Perth why not Adelaide? Is Perth not the most similar city to Adelaide you can think of?
monotonehell wrote:First you need to find the space to double the road system. Where would you find that on the corridors you mention?
I think that I should really clarify what I was referring to when I was discussing these corridors. As Shuz mentioned, Adelaide already has a North-South Freeway, it's just incomplete. We already have the Southern Expressway (which, in a matter of time, will be made a
normal two-way road) going from Darlington, outward; then we'll soon have the Northern Expressway (which, will soon be completed) and finally the Northern Connector would make a fine addition to this system. The only thing left is South Road.
Now, South Road
is a suburban road that was never intended by Light to stretch the entire length of the city. It only really reached the entire North-South route in the past 30-40 odd years, before that, it ended at about Regency Road or something didn't it
(I stand to be corrected). The fact is, to turn South Road into a non-stop
efficient, high-speed corridor, land acquisition would be required similarly to building a new freeway. Hence, what, I ask, have you saved in terms of land? Not only that, but the entire road would have to be re-done in terms of widening, resurfacing, bottleneck upgrades, etc.
Just build a freeway and be done with it! 
(Cheers, paulns)
This North-South Freeway of which I talk could follow such a route where it leaves an Interchange at Dry Creek and heads along the Gawler Line (like the Kwinana Freeway in Perth), then go along the current route of James Congdon Drive, before going along the current route of South Road between Mile End and the Emerson crossing. (The reason for this section of South Road being upgraded, is that we have already built the ANZAC Highway underpass, so why waste that money by not utilising it in a long-term plan?
) Then at the Emerson crossing, it can turn away from South Road and travel the remaining route of what the Tonsley Trains travel, before flowing onto the Southern Expressway. ta-da!
- North-South_Freeway_Base_Map_with_North-South_Freeway_for_Sensational_Adelaide.jpg (208.53 KiB) Viewed 4375 times
I'm not saying this is
the solution, I'm merely presenting an idea.
monotonehell wrote:You want to create first class and second class roads, then charge those who can afford it (the ones driving their Mercs and Audis most likely) to continue to add to congestion. What's PT then? Third class?
Once again, I really should have been clearer with what I said. Just see what I wrote above to understand what I
really meant. Once again, my apologies for not being clearer.
raulduke wrote:...the intention was and still is to remove heavy vehicle traffic from main north and heaslip roads...
...which would then mean safer suburban roads when suburbia engulfs that area, because the freight and the commuters from suburbs further North won't have to travel through those areas. It seems that our Government has learnt from the mistakes of the 70s which is good to see. However if Rann or Hamilton-Smith were posters on Sensational Adelaide, I'd beg of them to not make a similar mistake by 'not completing' the essential North-South Route that this city need for the present and the future.
Shuz wrote:Really, if you look at the bigger picture - the North-South Corridor is already halfway complete - Northern and Southern Expressway at either end. The proposed Northern Connector (essentially an extension of the NEXY) will just bring that traffic closer to the city, and then its a matter of solving the central alignment (South Road)
Exactly. I agree 100%; see what I wrote above.
Finally, to get the ball rolling again and to rock the boat
, there is another Freeway that Adelaide would most certainly benefit from having. That is one to connect the South-Eastern Freeway to the City and the Western, Northern and potentially the Eastern suburbs. There are many possible routes, such as:
[*]creating a tunnel beneath Glen Osmond Road, Fullarton Road, Dequetteville (I think that's how to spell it
) Terrace, Hackney Road and the Northern Parklands, before joining onto the North-South Corridor
[*]Leaving the A-C Highway just before Mt Osmond and cutting through (or tunnelling beneath
) the Eastern Suburbs to join an extensively upgraded Inner-City Ring Route to eventually meet the north-South Corridor
[*]Tunneling beneath Cross Road to join onto the route of the Belair Line to meet the North-South Corridor at Mile End
[*]The list goes on!
Such a freeway would divert freight away from the Eastern and mid-southern suburbs (ie around Cross Road) as well as bottlenecks like the Brittania Roundabout and Richmond Road, east of South Road. Not only that, but it would cater for the growing number of commuters coming from the ever exapanding Hills region. This is a similar (but thanks to the voters of the early 70s, a more
expensive) concept to what Rann hopes to achieve with Northern Expressway and Connector.
Cheers,
Adam.