PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: NORTHERN EXPRESSWAY

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (11:42): I move:

That the 273^rd report of the committee on the Northern Expressway be noted.

Currently access into Adelaide from the Sturt Highway is a substantial deficiency on the national network and has an impact upon a significant number of important agricultural areas. It is expected that industrial and agricultural activity will increase by 5 per cent annually over the next 10 years, and the total freight demand is forecast to almost double in the next 20 years. A corridor study has concluded that it would be significantly more cost effective to develop a new route on the fringe of the northern urban area than to upgrade Main North Road.

The Northern Expressway will be 23 kilometres long and will form part of the AusLink national network, replacing Main North Road. It will connect the Sturt Highway to Port Wakefield Road. The expressway will have dual two-lane carriageways and an at-grade, signal-controlled junction at Port Wakefield Road. In addition, it will feature interchanges at five major points, bridges spanning the Gawler River, an overpass of Taylors Road and the Adelaide-Perth-Darwin rail line, and flood mitigation works in the vicinity of the Gawler River.

The land acquisition process will directly affect 86 properties—44 have dwellings on them of which 12 will need to be demolished. The Northern Expressway route starts with the Gawler to Roseworthy rail line, crosses the Gawler Bypass and will meet Port Wakefield Road north of Taylors Road. It has been designed to cater for the traffic volumes forecast for 2031, which are based on the two million population scenario for metropolitan Adelaide by 2050. A number of changes to local roads will be required where the expressway either connects or severs a local road. Eleven roads will be severed, as the low traffic volumes and existence of alternative routes do not justify the additional expense of further crossing points. Emergency vehicle access will be provided via the proposed interchanges and in other specific locations along the expressway.

The area over the entire length of the Northern Expressway corridor is a natural drainage basin between Gawler and Little Para rivers and is traditionally prone to flooding. Flood control measures are being undertaken (outside of this project) in the catchment and these will greatly reduce the frequency of flooding. Natural stormwater flow paths will be maintained as much as possible through the provision of culvert openings through the road embankment and the corridor will include swales, pits, pipes and detention basins to ensure drainage problems are not exacerbated. As a result of requests for improved access between the Northern Expressway and the local road network, additional access ramps to and from the south are proposed at Two Wells Road and Angle Vale Road. The interchange at Curtis Road will also provide full access onto and off the expressway.

Provisions will still be made for the future upgrade of the interchanges at Two Wells Road and Angle Vale Road to include access to and from the north when required. Detailed noise modelling has been carried out and final locations, design and construction materials for noise attenuation treatments will be determined during the detailed design phase of the project. Large areas of land along the expressway route and around interchanges will provide a significant opportunity to carry out revegetation works with local native plant species, thereby improving biodiversity in the region and doing away with any negative visual effects of the expressway.

The upgrade of Port Wakefield Road is designed effectively to manage the traffic flow, safety and accessibility issues arising from the significant increase in traffic from the Northern Expressway. The number of direct access points onto Port Wakefield Road will be reduced to improve safety. However, service roads alongside Port Wakefield Road will be provided, where possible, to uphold direct access to local roads and abutting properties. The upgrade of Port Wakefield Road includes:

additional lanes south of Ryans Road and at selected junctions to increase capacity;

improvements to acceleration and deceleration lane length;

control of direct access onto Port Wakefield Road; and

upgrade of service roads along the western side.

Most work will be within the existing road reserve. However, some land will need to be acquired from private owners and council.

The upgrade of Port Wakefield Road will involve physical changes between the proposed junction of the new Northern Expressway just north of Taylors Road and immediately south of the Salisbury Highway overpass at Dry Creek. Essentially this involves restricting access to junctions with local roads or for properties which currently have direct access and providing access through safer means. The upgrade of Port Wakefield Road caters for traffic conditions and functionality up to 2016. An additional planning study will look at the longer term requirements of the Port Wakefield Road corridor between the Northern Expressway and Salisbury Highway/Port River Expressway.

Existing crossing points for the major watercourses across Port Wakefield Road accommodate flows of up to a one in 100-year flooding event and the upgrade is not expected to result in a measurable increase in stormwater values. The Northern Expressway and the upgrade of Port Wakefield Road is South Australia's largest and highest priority project under the current AusLink investment program. It is an integral part of the priority package of works to upgrade the Port of Adelaide and Outer Harbor, linking it to the national network to complete the key freight corridor. The selected route best balances the requirements imposed by the regional significance of the local area, while optimising freight efficiencies and improving safety significantly by diverting freight traffic from Main North Road and the local road network.

Not implementing the Northern Expressway will worsen the problems associated with the existing national network access into Adelaide from the Sturt Highway, in particular:

reduced transport efficiency between the Sturt Highway and Adelaide due to increasing congestion along Main North Road;

safety concerns from heavy vehicle traffic diversion along less suitable alternative routes; and

increased environmental impacts from continued heavy traffic movements along Main North Road and alternative routes.

In the longer term, an expressway standard link will be required from the Northern Expressway to the Salisbury Highway/Port River Expressway. This is likely to be constructed by 2016 on an alternative alignment away from the existing Port Wakefield Road. A planning study will determine the best long-term solution. The Northern Expressway will improve transport efficiencies particularly for export, thereby expanding the export potential for the state. It will also complement and reinforce the benefits of other strategic infrastructure, including the Port River Expressway.

The improvements to harbor facilities, the development of new grain handling infrastructure and the introduction of new defence industry works, along with the other commercial and residential developments in the immediate and surrounding areas, makes this project a vital link in the establishment of efficient freight movement into this precinct from important regional and interstate centres. The results of the economic analysis equate the net present value of benefits to approximately $461 million (that is a 7 per cent discount rate) and a benefit cost ratio of 2.4. The expressway will also become a catalyst for the delivery of potential secondary benefits and flow-on effects.

The budget estimate for the current scope of works is $564 million, which includes a risk allowance. All works under this proposal are eligible for AusLink funding. Ernst and Young Transaction Advisory Services Limited was engaged to undertake an investigation into private sector participation in the project. Its investigation concluded that private sector financing would not provide 'a value for money outcome'. The project schedule anticipates the Port Wakefield Road upgrade being completed by December 2008 and the Northern Expressway being completed by December 2010.

The committee has been concerned to ensure that Port Wakefield Road will have the capacity and efficiency to deal with the 18,000 vehicles per day increase in traffic from the expressway. It has been assured that the road's upgrade is a mid-term solution. The goal is to build a completely new corridor west of the current alignment and south of the intersection of the Northern Expressway. Discussions are occurring with the commonwealth government to include this in the Auslink 3 program. The committee is also aware of some community concerns about the potential for the expressway to exacerbate flood damage. However, the agreement with the commonwealth government requires the expressway to be designed so that properties in the area are not adversely affected as a result of a one in 100-year flood event.

The design solution takes account of the local drainage systems and secondary systems, and a consultant engaged by the catchment board will ensure that the design is compatible with flood mapping work being done for the whole of the Gawler catchment area.

There is all the potential for large cost increases to occur during the construction of major projects. However, the committee is assured that the estimate for this project relies upon standards which provide a high level of budget confidence.

The best route has been chosen, after analyses of options, which evaluated the impact on the local community, the environment and horticultural land and the impact upon the road's usage level if routed through less populated areas. The Playford council was antagonistic to the proposed route alignment but has endorsed it following its own independent analysis.

The committee was concerned to ensure that in the acquisition processes property owners receive a fair sale price. We are satisfied that the valuation and appeal mechanisms are fair and accept that all reasonable measures will be taken to ensure that the owners of properties acquired for this project receive a fair price.

Therefore, Mr Speaker, based upon the evidence received and considered pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public work.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:55): I rise to support the member for Norwood on the report that has been tabled before the parliament, but would like to make a few brief remarks about how this project has come into play. Quite frankly, if it had not been for the activities of Mr David Fawcett MP and the federal government we would not have this. This was a project that was originally costed at some $300 million, but is yet another one that has now blown out, to $580 million.

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr PENGILLY: Plus CPI. The fact is that the federal government has committed some $464 million to this project, to fix up the almighty mess that was created by the Minister for Transport and his department in not getting it right in the first instance. The member for Unley will pick up on some other aspects of this issue.

The project is indeed a good project. I think it is going to be of great benefit to the state of South Australia and the transport industry, and whoever chooses to use it. It is certainly going to expedite the delivery and export of materials in and out of Adelaide as required. So I have no hesitation in supporting it. But the simple fact of the matter is that, once again, had it not been for the feds we wouldn't have it. So a few people may need reminding of the activities of this wonderful federal government that we have, and a great local member out there in David Fawcett, who has worked assiduously to get on with the job and deliver the goods to the people in his electorate.

I sincerely hope that Mr Fawcett will have the opportunity to continue his good work. If you put all the hoo-ha and nonsense to one side that is being put out by the federal Labor Party at the moment, and if people sit down and actually have a look at what is being delivered, they will see that Mr Fawcett and his colleagues in the federal government have indeed delivered and continue to deliver the goods for the people of South Australia. So, I endorse the project. I have great pleasure in supporting it, and I will rest my case.

Mr PISONI (Unley) (11:57): I, too, rise to support the project. In doing so, I do express some frustration with the original costings, at $300 million, to the eventual cost of $574-odd million, of which an 80 per cent contribution was given from the federal government. Again, like the member for Finniss, I would like to use this opportunity to thank the federal member for Wakefield, David Fawcett, for the hard work he has done in helping to deliver the federal government funding.

Here we have the state government discussing a deal with the federal government for one amount and then a few months later saying, 'Look, I am sorry, we've made a mistake, you'll have to double your contribution.' I think we should be very thankful for the high representation that John Howard's federal cabinet has from South Australia. It is because of that that the federal cabinet was able to tolerate the bad management of this government and understand the importance of this project which thus enabled this funding to be increased to match the new costs. The report from the committee goes on to say:

The committee was told that the Northern Expressway project, including the upgrade of Wakefield Road, is South Australia's largest and highest priority project undertaken with the Australian government under the current Auslink investment program.

That is a great achievement for the member for Wakefield, and I thank him for the work that he has done. I was very disappointed to find that $312,000 was spent on a study, paid to consultants, to come up with ideas on how enterprising projects could be set up in conjunction with the Northern Expressway to offset the costs. Some $312,000 was spent, and they said we could put a truck stop there. Amazing. Some $312,000 later and the consultant said, 'You've got this new road, why don't you put a truck stop in.' I could have given that advice for nicks; as a matter of fact, I would have seen it as a community service to give that advice.

But, anyway, $312,000 later, a truck stop. It would be interesting to see whether the land that was compulsorily acquired was acquired on the basis of the commercial value of a truck stop or on the farming value. I will be watching for any profit that the government made by compulsorily acquiring this land, at farm rates, and then rezoning it as commercial, and a BP franchisee or a Shell franchisee coming along, in conjunction with McDonalds or Hungry Jacks and setting up a truck stop, and let us just see the massive increase in the value of that land, and then we ask ourselves: as far as the original land owners are concerned was that just? They were forced to give up their land at a price dictated to them by the government based on a much lower farm value, or agricultural value, than a commercial value for a truck stop. But that is a story for another day. At least we know we got great value for that $312,000 in getting that advice.

But I do stand here and support the project, and again would like to thank the member for Wakefield, David Fawcett, for the hard work he has done in ensuring that the federal government committed to its funding.

Debate adjourned.