News & Discussion: Regional Road Upgrades

[rhino]

I didn't realize this bypass proposal (probably not in this exact form) has been around since 1951!

Winemaker Treasury Wine Estates in fight against Penola bypass road through its vineyard

MEREDITH BOOTH From: The Advertiser October 25, 2010 5:50PM

WYNNS' wines owner Treasury Wine Estates is spending a "significant'' amount on a five-week advertising campaign against a planned $21 million Penola bypass road through one of its vineyards in the Coonawarra wine region.
Kicking off its campaign last weekend with a full page ad in News Limited's The Weekend Australian, Treasury likens the Council's planned road through ``terra rossa'' soil vineyards as ``viticultural destruction''.
Treasury, owned by Foster's Group, expects the campaign to run in national, South Australian and regional newspapers and online media for at least five weeks leading up to Wattle Range Council elections on November 13, a spokeswoman said.
It is urging all council candidates to ``thoroughly review all heavy vehicle bypass alternatives''.
Wattle Range Council chief executive Frank Brennan said the bypass road, which would start 1.5km north of Penola and rejoin the Riddoch Highway 1.5km south of Penola, was needed to remove 550 trucks a day travelling through Penola's main street.
Heavy vehicle traffic was expected to increase to 700 a day if a Penola pulp mill development goes ahead, he said.
Local, State and Federal governments are expected to pitch in a combined $21 million to build the road.
Mr Brennan said the bypass, first mentioned at the council in 1951, has been the subject of two legal challenges in the Supreme of South Australia, one from winemakers Foster's Group and Parker Estate which successfully blocked the Council's push to build the road last year and a second by Penola and District Residents and Ratepayers Association which found in favour of the Council, Mr Brennan said.
The ratepayer action is now subject to an appeal.
About 20ha of Treasury Wine Estates-owned vineyards would be cut diagonally by the planned road with the impact on 20-year-old vines bearing grapes used for the company's Wynns Coonawarra Estate chardonnay and Wynns black label cabernet sauvignon wines, the spokeswoman said.

[rogue]

Map of proposed route: http://www.wattlerange.sa.gov.au/webdat ... option.pdf

[drwaddles]

If the vines have been there for 20 years, why are they not shown on the aerial photos?!

[rhino]

If the vines have been there for 20 years, why are they not shown on the aerial photos?!

Directly north of the town (between the town and the left side of that photograph) you can clearly see the bypass cutting through vineyards. Just got to know what you're looking at

[drwaddles]

A small corner of a land parcel just before the bypass rejoins the existing road? No wonder I wouldn't have spotted it...

Doesn't look too difficult to shift the road slightly north to miss that vineyard...

[rhino]

From where the bypass leaves the Riddoch Highway until it crosses Weirs Lane, it is cutting through vineyards.

[Westside]

The map doesn't show what is north of the town, but surely a bypass that side would be cheaper as it would not have to cross the rail line twice (this increasing the expense with overpasses).

Just my opinion after looking at it only a few minutes.

[drsmith]

The impression I get from the map above is that the two rail crossings will be at grade.

There still must have been a compelling reason not to go to the other side of the town and avoid the rail crossings alltogether.

[rhino]

The map doesn't show what is north of the town

There is a north arrow in the bottom left corner of the aerial photo. It points to the left. That's where north is.

[fabricator]

Or they could just put Scotts Transport to sleep, and re-instate the train line to carry the freight instead of all those trucks. Would make perfect sense, unless your a bitter truck magnate.

[Westside]

Sorry, to the East then. I didn't think new rail crossings were advised anymore - especially on important freight routes.

[peas_and_corn]

The wine industry has a grape glut. No big loss. Hey, if the amount of grapes grown keeps going down, maybe the growers will be able to make a profit on their grapes sometime

[Wayno]

The wine industry has a grape glut. No big loss. Hey, if the amount of grapes grown keeps going down, maybe the growers will be able to make a profit on their grapes sometime

err No.

The 'glut' is an australia-wide issue (mostly caused by large companies mass producing mediocre wine on average soil) and is no justification for permanently wiping out terra rossa land from which the world's best wines originate. The geology of the Coonawarra district is one of 'random patches' of excellence and they must be preserved. Trouble is, i don't believe the Coonawarra district has been officially mapped from a viticultural perspective - so this bypass proposal comes as no surprise.

If alternate bypass routes exist then they must be investigated. Also seems silly to cross the rail line.

Terra Rossa (definition from wikipedia): Terra Rossa (Italian for "red soil") is a type of red clay soil produced by the weathering of limestone. When limestone weathers, the clay contained in the rocks is left behind, along with any other non-soluble rock material. Under oxidizing conditions, when the soils are above the water table, iron oxide (rust) forms in the clay. This gives it a characteristic red to orange colour. Terra rossa is typically found in regions with a Mediterranean climate. Compared to most clay soils, terra rossa has surprisingly good drainage characteristics. This makes it a popular soil type for wine production. Among other wine regions, it is found in La Mancha in Spain and Coonawarra in Australia.

[AtD]

In short: it's about quality not quantity.

[youarehere]

The map doesn't show what is north of the town, but surely a bypass that side would be cheaper as it would not have to cross the rail line twice (this increasing the expense with overpasses).

Just my opinion after looking at it only a few minutes.

The entire South East rail network was abandoned in the mid-90s when the majority of the SA rail network was converted to standard gauge. A tourist train did run between Penola and Mount Gambier for a while but now even that has stopped. I would assume any road over the rail "corridor" would not need to incorporate a level crossing.