U/C: Dukes Highway Duplication

[rhino]

[quote="rogue"]I travel on this road nearly every month. Although I only go as far as Horsham, the road on the South Australian side is much better than what is on the Victorian side. IMHO, I dont see the need for full duplication from Tailem Bend to the border. There are amble overtaking lanes and more are in the pipeline.[quote]

I drive this road regularly too, and i agree with Rogue - our side of the border has the better road, and it's constanttly improving.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the money being offered to Victoria for the Western Highway is all spent between Melbourne and Horsham - I don't think you'll see much getting spent further west at all.

[Dave_The_Planner]

If our freight must be delivered by road rather than rail, then we should have this section of highway upgraded to freeway standard.

[rhino]

I would rather see more freight going by rail, with more freight yards operating between Adelaide and Melbourne. It's the "Just-in-time" freight mentality that necessitates long-distance road haulage.

[AtD]

Who cares if Victoria has 3 times the people in 1/3 the size doesnt mean
they should be left to get away with ignoring South Australia's needs.

Maybe we should start funnelling all royalties of the GST to the State,
likewise with petrol exise and mining royalties etc. I bet the commonwealth
wouldnt like that because its would quickly become evident that we
pay more in taxes etc than what we are given back.

Actually, SA is a net receiver of federal revenue. It takes fewer votes to win a senate seat in SA than it does in NSW.

[Norman]

I'd like to see the Sturt Highway upgraded, I drove on it today and while the SA part was better than the NSW side, the system is confusing at Berri and other parts after that. That is no highway, it feels more like a back road for God's sake. The road is terrible all round, there are a lot of patches on the road making it uneven and dangerous to travel on. The bridges at Renmark are shockers as well, especially the opening one just before you enter Renmark.

[crawf]

I travel on the Sturt Highway a fair bit and I know what part your taking about that

That new bypass route?, not so long the main route used to go straight through Berri but now it uses that shitty back road and bypasses Berri. The intersection has been done up, the rest is slowly being fixed up.

As for the opening bridge thats getting an upgrade, they were doing road works when I went through that area 2 weeks ago

[Norman]

I was also surprized at the number of permanent speed cameras around the Dukes Highway, Western Highway and Hume Highway.

[rhino]

I'm pretty sure those permanent cameras are to monitor trucks, not cars.

[Cruise]

I'm pretty sure those permanent cameras are to monitor trucks, not cars.

There are there are also some on Port Wakefield Road and the Gawler bypass, and other numourous locations.
They scan trucks number plates to see how it long it has taken to get from one camera to another.
This way they can ensure truck drivers are getting enough rest.

[Norman]

Ah, fair enough then. Not that I was speeding anyway.

[bmw boy]

Ah, fair enough then. Not that I was speeding anyway.

sure sure.... I bet you were driving like you were on the autobahn, where there are no speed limits!

[Cruise]

Ah, fair enough then. Not that I was speeding anyway.

sure sure.... I bet you were driving like you were on the autobahn, where there are no speed limits!

he was driving like he was on the O bahn

sorry had to say it

[crawf]

Really sad news, while i didn't know the couple who died in this tragic car crash, they were friends of my grand parents. I heard they were lovely people so RIP

Two killed in Dukes Highway car rollover
Article from: The Advertiser

BEN WAY, DOUG ROBERTSON

November 02, 2007 04:00pm

POLICE have urged motorists to stay more alert on country roads after the double fatality on the Duke's Highway, about 150km south-east of Adelaide today.

The couple, from Adelaide, died when their car left the highway and crashed into a tree. It is believed a burst tyre could have caused the accident, which happened about noon at Ki Ki, near Coonalpyn.

Emergency workers had to cut the bodies out of the wreckage.

There has been 61 deaths on country roads this year compared to 39 in the metropolitan area.

Assistant Commissioner Grant Stevens said marked and unmarked traffic patrols would continue to stringently police country roads but motorists had to accept responsibility for their safety.

“(Police will) endeavour to catch those people who are increasing the risk on our roads for everybody else,” he said. “It’s also important that people know police are out there and the visual reminder of seeing a police car will make some people actually think about the way they’re driving.”<.

This year’s road toll is now 100, compared to 98 at the same time last year.

The Dukes Highway – the main route between Adelaide and Melbourne – is one of the most notorious roads in the state.

The latest RAA statistics show there were 274 crashes on the road between 2001 and 2005, resulting in 22 deaths and 203 injuries.

Trucking magnate Allan Scott and the RAA are campaigning for it to be turned into a dual-carriage freeway all to the border, at a cost of $400 million.

RAA traffic and safety manager Rita Excell has said the duplication of the highway must become a long-term project for the Federal Government.

She said Victoria was bidding to have the Western Highway – the continuation of the Dukes Highway in Victoria – duplicated as part of AusLink network funding.

“We would like to see that strategy continued for the South Australian side of the road,” she said in September.

“In the short-term, we think there should be a lot of safety improvements on the roadside.”

An RAA report predicts the amount of road freight along the road will have doubled between 2000 and 2020 – from 3305 kilotonnes to 7355 kilotonnes.

[Cruise]

even if the road was 14 lanes wide, people would still have accidents

this one was apperantly caused by a tyre blow out, how is extra lanes going to solves this?

[bdm]

It wouldn't, but it gives the Advertiser a reason to fart out another piece of shitty sensationalist journalism.