[U/C] M2 North-South Motorway

[how good is he]

The estimate in yesterday Advertiser for the 2 main sections was $2.1 bn and $2.6 bn, so approx. $4.7 billion add the $354m for Regency Rd Overpass. So total say $5bn to complete it all. How long will it take to get funding, build and finish it all? My guess is 10 years, so 2028?

[claybro]

But wasn't there something about plans being submitted repeatedly to IA, but the criteria for submissions kept changing?

Not for the whole corridor. Hell, people were still building along the corridor last I checked. On a positive note, hopefully this has finally got an unstoppable momentum, no matter what method is used. Both sides of politics have been woeful in the past at a long term vision for freight and general traffic growth in SA.

[SBD]

But wasn't there something about plans being submitted repeatedly to IA, but the criteria for submissions kept changing?

Not for the whole corridor. Hell, people were still building along the corridor last I checked. On a positive note, hopefully this has finally got an unstoppable momentum, no matter what method is used. Both sides of politics have been woeful in the past at a long term vision for freight and general traffic growth in SA.

Yes, all sides seem to be committed to completing the north-south corridor between Gawler and Old Noarlunga. At least one side seems keen on extending to Victor Harbor.

HOWEVER, I have not seen any indication of thought or planning at either government or department level about moving freight between Glen Osmond and Regency Park since the ~2000 upgrade of Portrush Road. The nearest is the Liberal proposal to divert it from Murray Bridge to Nuriootpa. It sounds like the residents near Cross Road are starting to wake up that Portrush Road traffic might divert to their side of town, and they don't like that thought.

[rhino]

Why is the North-South corridor always referred to as Old Noarlunga to Gawler?
Gawler has been bypassed for decades (1963), and since 2010 the dual-carriageway non-stop corridor has extended to the Nuriootpa exit on the Sturt Highway.
The North-South Motorway will stretch from Old Noarlunga to Nuriootpa. We should recognise that.

[claybro]

But wasn't there something about plans being submitted repeatedly to IA, but the criteria for submissions kept changing?

Not for the whole corridor. Hell, people were still building along the corridor last I checked. On a positive note, hopefully this has finally got an unstoppable momentum, no matter what method is used. Both sides of politics have been woeful in the past at a long term vision for freight and general traffic growth in SA.

Yes, all sides seem to be committed to completing the north-south corridor between Gawler and Old Noarlunga. At least one side seems keen on extending to Victor Harbor.

HOWEVER, I have not seen any indication of thought or planning at either government or department level about moving freight between Glen Osmond and Regency Park since the ~2000 upgrade of Portrush Road. The nearest is the Liberal proposal to divert it from Murray Bridge to Nuriootpa. It sounds like the residents near Cross Road are starting to wake up that Portrush Road traffic might divert to their side of town, and they don't like that thought.

Oooh, now that will be a hot potato. Much has happened since the upgrade to Portrush 20 years ago. That upgrade, unfortunately only served to channel heavy transport into the maze of hilly intersections around Northeast, Hampstead etc. I have been told behind the scenes, since the upgrade of the North/south motorway the only option being seriously considered now is Cross road. The residents of Unley Park will be apoplectic about this, however why is it fair for those adjacent to Portrush to put up with trucks, and not those adjacent Cross Road not so? So, for the first time now, we have a semi serious discussion of bored tunnels. The good folk of Unley Park and Kingswood will need to be bought off somehow, so, it will be substantial land acquisition, or a bored tunnel. Given the complication of the Unley Park rail crossing, a bored tunnel may be the best bet. SA's first toll road perhaps?

[rev]

Not for the whole corridor. Hell, people were still building along the corridor last I checked. On a positive note, hopefully this has finally got an unstoppable momentum, no matter what method is used. Both sides of politics have been woeful in the past at a long term vision for freight and general traffic growth in SA.

Yes, all sides seem to be committed to completing the north-south corridor between Gawler and Old Noarlunga. At least one side seems keen on extending to Victor Harbor.

HOWEVER, I have not seen any indication of thought or planning at either government or department level about moving freight between Glen Osmond and Regency Park since the ~2000 upgrade of Portrush Road. The nearest is the Liberal proposal to divert it from Murray Bridge to Nuriootpa. It sounds like the residents near Cross Road are starting to wake up that Portrush Road traffic might divert to their side of town, and they don't like that thought.

Oooh, now that will be a hot potato. Much has happened since the upgrade to Portrush 20 years ago. That upgrade, unfortunately only served to channel heavy transport into the maze of hilly intersections around Northeast, Hampstead etc. I have been told behind the scenes, since the upgrade of the North/south motorway the only option being seriously considered now is Cross road. The residents of Unley Park will be apoplectic about this, however why is it fair for those adjacent to Portrush to put up with trucks, and not those adjacent Cross Road not so? So, for the first time now, we have a semi serious discussion of bored tunnels. The good folk of Unley Park and Kingswood will need to be bought off somehow, so, it will be substantial land acquisition, or a bored tunnel. Given the complication of the Unley Park rail crossing, a bored tunnel may be the best bet. SA's first toll road perhaps?

What’s needed is a network of motorways(integrated as much as possible with PT). We have the NS corridor along mostly south road and either end. We have the SE freeway. We have the PREXY. We need a motorway on the eastern side, and two east-west motorways linking it all, to create a metropolitan ring road.
The NS corridor should continue sour to Victor/Goolwa, north toward Port Wakefield, and east to the Riverland at least till
Blanchetown.

I’ll make a prediction. Port Road will eventually be turned into a motorway/freeway, and we will have some real spaghetti at the junction with South rd/T2T.

[SBD]

If we are to have a bored tunnel with the primary objective of getting traffic between the south eastern freeway and the north-south motorway, I see no reason it needs to be under Cross Road.

There's already a conversation somewhere here about going straight on from the bend where the concrete plant used to be and coming out in Netherby. If the attitude became "we've got the drill, let's use it", then the tunnel could be longer and deeper, and come out at Edwardstown instead, right next to the motorway interchange. That avoids most of the disruption in the quiet leafy southern suburbs.

[Llessur2002]

My two cents:

There's no way in hell that the whole of the remaining section of the north-south motorway will be tunnelled, bored or otherwise, nor will the entirety of any Cross Road connecting freeway. Property acquisition for a surface road will always be cheaper by a significant margin.

I'd bet my favourite pair of pants that any tunnels we see will be short and solely to avoid heritage buildings or complex intersections. In my opinion it's only a 50:50 chance that retention of the heritage buildings will be seen as important enough to justify the costs of tunneling anyway. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they got the chop in the name of progress and cost saving.

Suggesting that they'd seriously consider boring a tunnel from the end of the SE Freeway all the way to South Road just to appease some owners of fairly expensive properties along what is in all honesty an otherwise shitty road is fantasy.

I sit firmly in the tax high, spend big camp but if they wasted my tax dollars on that even I'd be furious.

It's no coincidence that this announcement of possible tunnels has come a couple of days after York Civil went into administration and talk started about the Libs not having enough infrastructure projects to avoid further casualties - this smacks of announcing something as grand as possible (however vague and unlikely) in order to divert attention from the matter.

[SBD]

I think from an engineering perspective, a short tunnel from that bend to Urrbrae looks attractive compared to heavy vehicles continuing down grade then a sharp left into the Cross Road tunnel. Then there is the social considerations of putting the new freeway through properties on a more southerly alignment to the motorway. That is buying up different properties, and putting a lot more that are now in quiet back blocks suddenly close to a freeway. Unfortunately, that doesn't look like a vote winner, even if it is the best overall outcome.

[Bacon]

Why is the North-South corridor always referred to as Old Noarlunga to Gawler?
Gawler has been bypassed for decades (1963), and since 2010 the dual-carriageway non-stop corridor has extended to the Nuriootpa exit on the Sturt Highway.
The North-South Motorway will stretch from Old Noarlunga to Nuriootpa. We should recognise that.

My guess they might be referring to controlled access freeway grade as that ends at the Horrocks Hwy interchange.

[SBD]

Why is the North-South corridor always referred to as Old Noarlunga to Gawler?
Gawler has been bypassed for decades (1963), and since 2010 the dual-carriageway non-stop corridor has extended to the Nuriootpa exit on the Sturt Highway.
The North-South Motorway will stretch from Old Noarlunga to Nuriootpa. We should recognise that.

My guess they might be referring to controlled access freeway grade as that ends at the Horrocks Hwy interchange.

Cycling and walking are allowed on the Gawler Bypass but not on the Northern Expressway or any of the other parts of the corridor. I'm not sure whether the "Gawler End" of the corridor is considered to be the junction of the Gawler Bypass and Northern Expressway or the Horrocks Highway (or whichever is the next at-grade junction).

Several junctions in the Barossa are grade-separated, but there are three or four more that need it to be done to consider it mostly-done.

• Roseworthy/Gomersal Roads
• Daveyston Road
• Old Kapunda Road (combine with Moppa or Belvedere Road on the north side)
• Murray Street, Nuriootpa
• Access to Wolf Blass

[mawsonguy]

This photo (coutesy of the Advertiser) shows the "artisitic" treatment to the services bridge between Port Rs and the OH overpass. It seems that DPTI continues to display a complete lack of imagination or taste when it comes to artistic treaments.

[Tonsley213]

Anyone been through Darlington lately? How the progress? Any idea when they are going to move the next bridge?

[Mpol03]

They really need a creative in their department. This looks cheap af.

[SBD]

They really need a creative in their department. This looks cheap af.

Much better than coiled razor wire. i suspect its primary purpose is to prevent people from walking across the "bridge" or trying to be the first to tag it.