COM: Northern Expressway | 22km

[Algernon]

The usual fucking waste of money on highways.

[bdm]

This isn't for city drivers, its a Salisbury / Elizabeth bypass route for tourists to the Barossa and truck drivers to the eastern states.

[PietroChocko]

wouldn't this just lead to more northern urban sprawl?

giving the go-ahead for this highway is fine, but increasing the flow of traffic would merely lead to ideal development north of gawler.... and thus negating the highway (more traffic = slower travel rates).

anyone agree?

[rhino]

I imagine the Northern Expressway will connect into the Gawler bypass rather than direct traffic into Gawler. The main aim would be to get heavy transport off the Main North Road through Elizabeth and Salisbury, and on to a safer route to Port Adelaide or South Road. Apart from heavy trucks, it would be used more by people heading for the northern Barossa Valley, the Riverland, the Clare Valley, Broken Hill, or Mildura and Sydney than by people living in the Gawler or Munno Para district. There is still plenty of land available for housing between Gawler and Adelaide before the land north of Gawler sees much urban sprawl.

[Will]

I believe that the northern expressway is an excellent idea, in that it should stimulate industrial development around Port Adelaide, by reducing travel costs and time of transport.

[rhino]

I'm with you Will

[Howie]

The usual stuff... blowouts yada yada.

Cloud over $550m expressway
Kim Wheatley

August 05, 2006 11:30pm
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)

FEWER lanes and a route change may be the only options for the survival of the planned $550 million Northern Expressway, an angry Federal Roads Minister Jim Lloyd said yesterday.
It comes as the Opposition yesterday raised the spectre of further blowouts arising from acquisition of land for the project.

On Friday, Transport Minister Pat Conlon announced a $250 million cost blowout for the 22km expressway, the latest embarrassing admission in a list of Transport Department project cost overruns.

The State Government has asked the Federal Government to boost its $240 million contribution to $440 million, in a project designed to link the export and freight route from Port Wakefield Rd to Gawler.

The State Government also found another $50 million for the project, placing further pressure on the upcoming State Budget.

Mr Lloyd said yesterday he had been told about the blowout only hours before it was announced.

"I got a note yesterday morning (Friday) with a draft of what the SA Government was going to say," he said. "How did they get it so wrong?

"This is an 80 per cent increase – from $300 million to $550 million – it's not even in the ballpark, so it is quite concerning and it certainly does put a cloud over the project."

While maintaining the project was "not dead", he foreshadowed major re-scoping and called for urgent high-level talks.

"Is there potential, instead of having three lanes each way, to have two lanes each way . . . and are there route selections that would provide a cost saving?" he said.

"The Australian Government is still committed to the project but we can't just pluck another couple of hundred million out of the air. I'm very annoyed."

Mr Lloyd appeared unimpressed with Mr Conlon saying a robust economy was forcing cost blowouts in projects around Australia.

"Claiming an 80 per cent increase can be blamed on a good economy and increasing costs for steel and concrete just doesn't wash," he said. "We all have to factor in cost increases – but not to that extent."

Mr Conlon said he was confident the project would go ahead, largely because construction was due to start in 2009. "All states will be getting new Auslink allocations in that time anyway," he said. "We'll be getting, I would suggest, more than an extra couple of million dollars over the next life of the project over five years."

However, he welcomed any Commonwealth assistance to reduce costs, including discussions about the State Government's preferred route, which is yet to be made public.

"If the Commonwealth believes there's another way of doing it that is cheaper, we're more than happy to look – it's certainly in my interest for the numbers to come in low," Mr Conlon said.

"But we've scoped it, we think, as efficiently and effectively as possible . . . and it is predominantly four lanes and you can't scope below four lanes. That is literally how you end up with one-way expressways." The Opposition labelled the blowout "financial mismanagement" and believes the project could result in further embarrassment.

Transport spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said: "They've done their costings behind closed doors on land aquisitions – they haven't consulted land owners – and what may well happen is that it will blow out further because, when they actually start speaking with the people who own the land, they might find out their sums are wrong.

"And apparently there's a wetland that's affected by the alignment and there's also an Aboriginal site."

The expressway blowout follows news the cost of one of three planned South Rd underpasses will increase by $35 million to $100 million and the Bakewell Bridge replacement will rise by $11 million.

[AtD]

The Expressway was on the front page of the 'Tiser again today, this time the DoD is complaining it's too close to the RAAF Base and want it move. The 'Tiser is acting like the end of the world, of course, and as if it's the ALPs fault. The state transport minister seems to be rather indifferent, since it's the feds that are funding it and the feds who are complaining about it.

[rogue]

Front page from todays 'Tiser.

The proposed route has been released and is on page 4.

Is someone able to scan and post???

Major expressway opens up north

EXCLUSIVE: PAUL STARICK, CHIEF REPORTER

November 15, 2006 01:15am

THE route of a $550 million expressway designed to open up Adelaide's north has been unveiled, spanning 23km from Gawler to Port Wakefield Rd.

The state's largest road project for more than 40 years, the Northern Expressway route runs past Penfield, MacDonald Park, Andrews Farm, Munno Para Downs and Gawler's western edge.
The four-lane freeway, expected to carry 37,000 trucks and cars a day by 2011, is designed to boost freight links from the Sturt Highway to Port Adelaide.

"There simply hasn't been a road in South Australia like that built since World War II," Transport Minister Patrick Conlon told The Advertiser yesterday. "This is the biggest new road in South Australia for decades."

Construction is expected to start in 2008, with completion scheduled for 2011.

It is expected parts of 79 properties will be acquired during the next 18 months, including 39 with houses.

State Government officers two days ago started contacting private landowners affected by the route.

Construction of the expressway is subject to a funding deal being finalised between State and Federal Governments, and expected by May next year.

The State Government has been forced to investigate whether to impose tolls on the four-lane road after a $250 million cost blow out, revealed in August, sent the estimated total bill to $550 million.

Mr Conlon yesterday said an independent study into private investment, including tolls, would report by the end of the year.

This is a standard Federal Government requirement for projects worth more than $500 million under the national AusLink scheme, aimed at improving major transport links.

However, the newly elected State Government in March issued a "No Privatisations Decree" vowing tolls would "not be applied to roads within South Australian borders".

Mr Conlon said he was "confident" the study would show tolls were "not an option", as there would not be sufficient traffic volume for private operators to make a profit.

He also said he was "confident" the project cost would be contained at $550 million.

Federal Roads Minister Jim Lloyd said tolls would not be demanded but should not be ruled out if recommended by the report. "I'm not, and the Commonwealth is not, opposed to toll roads," he said.

"If the private sector is involved, often you'll get a road a lot quicker than you normally would." Mr Lloyd said release of the expressway route would enable final costings to be prepared and the federal funding component to be decided.

Under the AusLink agreement, the Federal Government has already committed 80 per cent - or $146 million - of the original $300 million cost.

Another $220 million of federal money would be required if the current 80:20 funding ratio arrangement was maintained.

Mr Conlon said the Port Wakefield road stretch between the Northern and Port River expressways would remain four lanes but would be extended to six lanes at major intersections.

He said a planned upgrade of this section of Port Wakefield Rd "may be done later".

Opposition Transport spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said Mr Conlon had scaled back this part of the project to contain a further blowout of at least $200 million. He warned this would result in a bottleneck of almost 10km, choked by traffic spilling from Port Wakefield Rd and the Northern and Port River expressways.

"The original plan included a widening of Port Wakefield Rd to a six-lane-freeway-standard road with high-speed connections, a 110km/h speed limit and restricted access with limited interchanges and overpasses. We may now be getting none of this," Mr Hamilton-Smith said.

He accused Mr Conlon of failing to consult land owners and having no idea about the cost of land acquisitions.

Mr Conlon said the expressway route had been planned north and west of RAAF Edinburgh, following Defence Department security and access concerns.

Defence yesterday said the State Government had been "very supportive" of the issues raised and its cooperation was "appreciated".

[Howie]

Thanks for that rogue, much appreciated. I'll have a lookie at the route at lunch.

[AtD]

http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/trans...ress/index.asp

http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/trans...ages/route.jpg

[Howie]

Thanks for that. Btw, I youtubed the Channel 10 news report on the northern freeway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkIz25Un6qE

[rogue]

From today's 'Tiser.

Gawler expressway needs extra $200m

PAUL STARICK, CHIEF REPORTER

January 23, 2007 01:15am

THE future of the $550 million Northern Expressway between Gawler and Port Wakefield Rd now depends on the Federal Government injecting another $200 million.

A State Government-commissioned study has ruled out private investment or tolls for the 23km four-lane freeway.
Transport Minister Patrick Conlon told The Advertiser the State Government could not afford to give any more than the $110 million it had promised, leaving the Federal Government as the last funding source.

A $250 million blowout, revealed last August, means the Federal Government's share of the joint project cost would rise from $240 million to $440 million.

Transport Minister Mark Vaile's office said a decision on extra funding had not yet been made but the Government remained committed to the expressway.

The Ernst & Young study, which was commissioned by both state and federal governments after the cost blowout, finds likely traffic volumes are insufficient for a Public/Private Partnership funding model.

"Government is unlikely to generate potential for value for money through a PPP approach," the report says.

"On this basis, it is recommended that a traditional procurement model be adopted."

The State Government is using PPPs to build a $411 million jail precinct near Murray Bridge and six "super schools" in Adelaide's northern and western suburbs.

A spokesman for Mr Vaile stressed construction was not expected to start until next year.

"The Australian Government will make a decision on the extra funding following consultation with South Australia, which is presently under way," he said.

"We remain committed to delivering the project on time."

The State Government is hoping for a federal funding decision by May, enabling work to expand some intersections on Port Wakefield Rd to begin in September or October. Mr Conlon was confident the Federal Government still believed the expressway was "an enormously important piece of infrastructure".

Opposition transport spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said the State Government could pay for the expressway itself by cutting waste and mismanagement, or borrowing money.

"It raises the question: 'Is this project viable if Canberra can't pay?'," Mr Hamilton-Smith said.

[AG]

Video for the planning process for the Northern Expressway:
http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/transpor ... a/nexy.wmv

[Cruise]

Ive looked at the proposed alingment and have on question why is there no south-bound exit and north-bound entry from curtis road?