GORGE ROAD

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:56): Prior to question time I was pleased to lodge a petition signed by over 1,000 of my constituents drawing the house's attention to:

...the poor condition of Gorge Road. The road is undulating, potholed and extremely unpleasant to drive on. The road is used by many commuters and carries a significant amount of traffic. Specific attention is sought for the proposed introduction of traffic lights at the intersection of Gorge Road and Silkes Road.

Your petitioners therefore request that the house urge the government to undertake significant improvements to Gorge Road.

This is one of the worst sections of road in metropolitan Adelaide and needs urgent government intervention to be improved for driver safety.

At the 2010 election, the Leader of the Opposition committed the Liberal Party to a $7.5 million upgrade of Gorge Road, from Lower North East Road to Russell Road, including major resurfacing work. Unfortunately for the residents of Morialta, the Rann government did not match this commitment, although the previous Labor member was quoted by the East Torrens Messenger during the 2010 election campaign saying that Gorge Road 'needs to be resurfaced'.

Extensive urban infill and new development has led to significantly higher levels of residential traffic along the road, in addition to the heavy transport accessing both the quarry and industrial areas within Newton. Many of my constituents consider Gorge Road to be unsafe and prefer to take alternate routes. Consequently, roads such as Lower Athelstone Road and George Street in Paradise are taking high levels of commuter traffic which they were never designed for.

There is one particularly dangerous intersection that has seen increased levels of driver frustration over the past few years, and that is at the T-junction where Silkes Road hits Gorge Road. As well as seeking attention for Gorge Road generally, I have particularly approached the Minister for Transport about the difficulties that many residents are having with this high-volume intersection. The minister cited a number of reviews that his department has apparently conducted on the intersection in his refusals. I regret that my requests for copies of information from these reviews were refused by the minister. Instead, he informed me that over the period from 2005-10 there had been an insufficient number of 'casualty crashes' to warrant attention.

I note that a large number of accidents that have not involved a casualty have been excluded from the minister's summary. While the minister relies on selected data in statistical summaries from his department that he is unwilling to release, I speak as someone who uses the road almost every day and who is regularly in contact with many members of the community who also see the problems every day.

I commend the Leader of the Opposition for coming out in the last couple of weeks to see the problems for herself. When we are considering public safety, we should not just rely on statistical data relating to past activity, we must also be awake to new circumstances and we should act to prevent tragedies before they occur.

The fact that a children's play cafe has now been established adjacent to this T-junction at Silkes Road creates new challenges. One of the two most troubling intersections in the area now has the added complication of hundreds of tiny feet entering and exiting every day, doing battle with the madness of Gorge Road without a pedestrian crossing in sight.

In an effort to ascertain the precise basis upon which the department has advised the minister not to proceed with improvements to this corner, I have recently lodged a freedom of information request with DTEI. I eagerly await the response from the department to the request for information that the minister denied. At a public forum arranged at fairly brief notice in April, attended by the Leader of the Opposition, about 150 residents were outspoken in their condemnation of the state of Gorge Road and voted unanimously to support the request in this petition. A straw poll on the issue of the Silkes Road intersection led to a unanimous call for lights.

There is a real human face to this problem, too. Oliver Mills, who suffers from cerebral palsy, and his mother and carer Kerri were quoted in Brittany Dupree's article on the front page of last week's East Torrens Messenger complaining that the road is so 'bumpy, rough and jolted' that it freezes Mr Mills' computerised communication device. Mrs Mills has to especially ensure her son's head is supported while travelling on Gorge Road every day.

Another constituent who has provided a copy of his correspondence to the minister and myself on this issue states that throughout the day he is subject to the most deafening noise of trucks and trailers as they literally bounce up the road with their loads being tossed to and fro. Other residents complain that they are required to slow down on the road so that they do not aggravate back pain, or are woken by trucks and trailers whose loads are being thrown about due to the road's surface.

Since my election to this place and in my doorknocking prior to the election, no issue has created more concern in terms of the number of people who have approached me about an issue. It is common sense to make safety for motorists and pedestrians a priority for funding in the upcoming state budget, and I call upon the Treasurer to consider seriously funding the upgrade of Gorge Road, a decision I can assure the Treasurer would have immense support from local residents, industry, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.