Sensational-Adelaide.com

TRAVEL times for Adelaide Hills motorists will be slashed by up ten minutes when a new freeway interchange at Mt Barker is completed.

Work will begin on the $27 million infrastructure project by November and is expected to be completed in mid-2016, according to plans to be released by the federal and state governments.

The plans include the first images and a computer-generated “drive through’’ of the interchange.

A new roundabout will also be built at the Old Princes Highway to complement the project, which includes a new South East Freeway interchange built at Bald Hills Road to reduce traffic congestion in the rapidly growing Mt Barker region.

The Commonwealth will provide $16 million to build the interchange, while the State Government will contribute $8 million and the Mt Barker Council a further $3 million.

The interchange is expected to carry up to 8000 vehicles a day.

Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and local Federal MP Jamie Briggs said productivity and road safety would also be improved by the multi-million project, which was promised by both major parties in the lead up to this year’s state election.

“The interchange will reduce traffic congestion through Littlehampton and Mt Barker, meaning motorists will spend less time stuck in traffic and more time being productive at work or at home with their families,” Mr Briggs said.

“The first stage of works will involve the construction of an off-ramp and an on-ramp to and from Adelaide to support the high volume of commuter traffic during peak periods.’’

State Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan said the new interchange and upgrade to the Old Princes Highway and Bald Hills Road junction will be constructed over two years.

“These important works are going to make a noticeable improvement in safety and travel times for commuters as well as visitors and tourists travelling through the area,’’ he said.

“Early works including service relocation are expected to begin before the end of 2014 and major

works starting at the Adelaide-bound ramp will be done during the 2014/2015 summer.’’

Mt Barker mayor Ann Ferguson said the new interchange would allow some motorists to avoid driving through Mt Barker to access the freeway and “would take off five to ten minutes travelling time — or more — depending on the time of day’’.

“We have a growing population and this project will facilitate our community to be able to move about more easily which will be wonderful.’’

Meanwhile, work is beginning on another major infrastructure project to build a tunnel for the O-Bahn bus service at Hackney. Road users have been warned to expect traffic delays this month as survey work begins on the $160 million job.

The Transport Department is urging road users to follow the directions of the traffic control staff and all construction and detour signs. Work will occur at night, weekends and outside peak times to minimise inconvenience to commuters, the department said.

mshagg wrote:Been a long time since i drove in mt barker during peak hour but must be pretty crazy these days.

Bald Hills Rd also serves littlehampton/nairne pretty well... been a fair amount of growth in those parts, too (young families who are strongly devoted to motor vehicle transport lol).

Dont suppose they've thought about throwing some money at public transport options out that way?

rhino wrote:The Hills are actually served quite well by public transport. It's all busses, but given the round-about route of the railway, to reach the hills, busses are much quicker and make more sense. Frequency is pretty good these days too.

Having said all that, this new freeway interchange is still going to save time, as a lot of people use the park and rides, and this new interchange will help with that.

AtD wrote:The SE Fwy really needs a motorway service centre. There's no servo between Glen Osmond and Talem Bend.

neoballmon wrote:I know the ones just outside of Ballarat are BP, on both sides of the road, with a McDonalds and KFC incorporated.

I also recall going to a 7/11, can't remember where exactly that was.

AtD wrote:The SE Fwy really needs a motorway service centre. There's no servo between Glen Osmond and Talem Bend.

crawf wrote:

AtD wrote:The SE Fwy really needs a motorway service centre. There's no servo between Glen Osmond and Talem Bend.

I'm surprised the Peregrine Group haven't jumped on this yet.

Though I guess the terrain is very hilly and quite restricted.