Public Works Committee: Darlington Upgrade

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:15): I move:

That the 532^nd report of the committee, entitled North-South Corridor Darlington Upgrade Project, be noted.

The Darlington Upgrade Project is part of the north-south corridor upgrade. This corridor is one of Adelaide's most important transport corridors, being the major route between Gawler and Old Noarlunga for north and southbound traffic, including freight vehicles. It is a distance of some 78 kilometres and it is being upgraded over a 10-year period via a number of key projects.

This particular project involves the upgrade of several intersections around Darlington, specifically the 2.3-kilometre section of Main South Road between the Southern Expressway and Ayliffes Road. It will provide nonstop access between the Southern Expressway and the Ayliffes Road/Shepherds Hill Road intersection. The details of the works are:

a lowered nonstop motorway passing underneath Flinders Drive and Sturt Road;

Main South Road service roads, at grade, along both sides of the lowered motorway to provide connections to Flinders Drive, Sturt Road and most local roads;

full free-flow interchange at the Southern Expressway/Main South Road, with dedicated ramps providing direct access to the new motorway and Main South Road; and

improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists with Main South Road, at grade, being positioned on the outside of the motorway resulting in smaller, staged intersections and crossing points.

This project also includes improvements to the intersection of Marion Road and Sturt Road at Sturt—and, as the local member, I welcome that—to manage the expected redistribution of traffic during construction, and network capacity improvements at the Main South Road and Daws Road intersection, and on Main South Road through Edwardstown. I welcome these particular upgrades because, as the local member, I was pleased to be able to make representation on behalf of my constituents and businesses in the local area, and these are some of the things that they were concerned about.

Preliminary project works have already commenced, with a number of properties needing to be acquired for the project to proceed; some of these have already been acquired. The major construction works are due to start in late 2015, with the anticipated completion by the end of 2018. This is a jointly funded project between the state and federal governments. The total cost of the project, exclusive of GST, is $620 million and it is being funded in a 4:1 ratio, federal to state government.

Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:18): I too rise to support the 532^nd report on the north-south corridor Darlington upgrade project. Obviously, the major focus of this project was to upgrade the 2.3-kilometre section of Main South Road between the Southern Expressway and Ayliffes Road. We know that the north-south corridor is a very important transport route and that it has essentially become a series of bottlenecks, bringing traffic to a standstill. Not living down there, but having experienced that on a few occasions, I know there is plenty of room for improvement, which I think this project will provide.

The report states that one-third of the property acquisition has currently occurred, and that is an aspect of the project I will be closely monitoring. Compulsory acquisition is always a nasty process for anyone to go through, and usually it is the heavy hand of government that comes in and gives people, in many instances, a lot of angst.

Some of the key issues with the project were raised by the member for Davenport. When he presented at the Public Works Committee hearing, there were a number of comments and questions in his presentation, and I commend him for that contribution.

I know that concerns were raised about pedestrian safety, a pedestrian crossing, as well as businesses concerned about the status of the project in terms of whether they should upgrade, remove, renovate or sell. That does create some level of uncertainty and it does give a lot of those businesses a level of anxiety when making a decision, particularly if it is a longstanding business or people have invested significant amounts of money. It is never a nice process to have people knocking on your door and raising those concerns. You are not focused on the business at hand: you are focused on those outside issues.

I would like to commend the federal government for this project. I know that the former assistant minister for infrastructure, the Hon. Jamie Briggs MP, the member for Mayo, was a significant player in negotiations and bringing federal money to the table. Yes, it was a state/commonwealth partnership but, in essence, this project would not have gone ahead if it was not for the good work of the member for Mayo in his capacity as the then assistant minister.

I have spoken to him about a number of infrastructure projects in South Australia. Most of the infrastructure projects are happening in Adelaide, and the productive side of the infrastructure, sadly, still seems, in short, to be a big part of the missing link when we look at transport and logistics here in South Australia to underpin our logistics routes so that we can have easy access to the airports and to port.

That is something that we need to keep on the radar; and, while we have this current government focused on projects in Adelaide—projects, I guess, revolving around predominantly their seats and marginal seats—and while this government continues to be in power we will continue to see that. During the hearing, I asked about the length of time taken for this project, and I was told, 'Yes, it's a complex project. It will take time. It is complex and there have been quite a lot of studies done.'

Obviously, the first lot of studies were done back in 2003, and it was always regarded as the missing link in our road network. During the hearing we were told that, between Ayliffes and Sturt roads, the latest June counts were 72,700 vehicles, and that is significant. I think that this project will alleviate a lot of that pressure on our road network.

We were told about the busiest section of the road on the network from Sturt Road to the Southern Expressway, and the latest count found that there were 70,600 vehicles, which is slightly fewer than between Ayliffes and Sturt roads. Two minutes is the predicted driver time save, and I think it is a significant investment for a two minute drive-time save, but I guess it is a piece in the puzzle, and I commend this project to the house.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:23): I also rise to support the project, but I would particularly like to place on the record the fact that this would not have happened if it were not for the federal Coalition government, quite frankly. It would not have happened. It was 4:1 funding on a $620 million project, and the former assistant infrastructure minister, the Hon. Jamie Briggs, was very much at the forefront.

The state can puff and blow—I just want to see the project happen, but it is actually entirely dependent on the federal government, and if it were not for the federal government it would not happen. With those few words, I am very supportive of the project, I look forward to it commencing and I look forward to it finishing sometime in late 2018. I support the report.

Mr SPEIRS (Bright) (11:23): I too rise today to speak on the Public Works Committee report into the Darlington upgrade. This is an important piece of infrastructure for many people living in my electorate who use South Road on a regular basis, particularly those living in the southern end of my electorate around Hallett Cove who come along Majors Road and then down South Road towards the Darlington interchange.

For a long time—as far as I can remember, as long as I have been around—that has been a significant bottleneck, particularly during peak hour in the morning, when vehicles not only come down South Road from areas such as Hallett Cove and down Flagstaff Road from Flagstaff Hill and Aberfoyle Park and into that bottleneck but also from the duplicated Southern Expressway, which obviously empties out into the same zone around Flinders University and the Flinders Hospital precinct and causes traffic chaos there.

This is a project which I am more than happy to speak in support of; I think it is a good infrastructure project for South Australia. I echo the words of the member for Finniss in thanking the federal government for their contribution to this project of $441 million. I would also like to congratulate the federal member, Dr Andrew Southcott, member for Boothby, who has spent the last nine years fighting for this project, being the major infrastructure project of need within his electorate of Boothby. I think it is a fitting tribute to Dr Southcott's career to see this project underway in time for his retirement from federal government in 2016.

I want to make another couple of points about this project; one is about the acquisition process, which is obviously a necessary process. An acquisition can often be a painful and difficult situation, but it is a necessary part of the process of major infrastructure projects. The acquisition process around the Darlington upgrade has had some difficulties. I have been contacted by a resident, Mr Alec Morris of Brighton, who is in a prolonged dispute with the state government regarding the acquisition of his property, an investment property he has in Bedford Park, and he has significant concerns about the level of compensation he is getting for the loss of that property, which he sees as a business asset as opposed to a residential asset.

Mr Morris is in a prolonged dispute and has had quite significant difficulties with dealing with the Department of Transport and Infrastructure regarding this matter. I know he is working with my colleague the member for Mitchell and also the Hon. John Darley, in another place, regarding this. There is work underway to investigate the process of acquisition, and I believe that is being led by Mr Darley, so it will be interesting to see how that unfolds in the coming weeks and months. However, I think that this is something that the government could handle with a bit more sensitivity when it comes to taking homes and assets from people. It is a necessary part of the process, albeit a difficult part of the process.

I also want to momentarily reflect on the fantastic work of the Friends of Warriparinga, a group of people from the southern suburbs who look after this unique little piece of the environment once known as Laffer's Triangle, now more commonly known as Warriparinga, which has been protected for over 20 years by local residents. It is a little triangle of land in the midst of suburbia and trapped between major pieces of road infrastructure within the electorate of the member for Davenport. Both he and I have met with the Friends of Warriparinga on site to experience that unique little part of our South Australian environment.

The duplication of the Southern Expressway a couple of years ago had a significant impingement on this local environment. Unfortunately, some of the fantastic revegetation work that has taken place over the last couple of decades was lost as a result of the duplication of the Southern Expressway. The Friends of Warriparinga now fear that the additional works required as part of the Darlington upgrade will also take more of this piece of the environment that they have been carefully tending for many years.

I ask the Minister for Infrastructure and his department, and the government, to really take the concerns of these people on board when planning this project and to try to understand the importance of their work and the investment they have put—physically, spiritually and emotionally—into that land over a couple of decades. They are good people who have been tilling the soil for many years—people like Beryl White and Rosalyn and Bruce who guided me through my walk around Warriparinga. It was certainly a little island of tranquillity in the midst of quite a lot of significant infrastructure. So, I hope this project will not cost too much more of that great piece of the environment at Warriparinga.

I pay tribute to Dr Nele Findlay, a resident of the City of Marion, who I knew during my time on the City of Marion council. Dr Findlay, who passed away in 2013, was a significant advocate who spent many years working at the Warriparinga site, and I think it would be a lasting tribute to her if this area were protected as part of the Darlington project.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (11:30): It is my pleasure to support this motion on the great work of the Public Works Committee. I think it is probably the third or fourth hardest working committee in parliament after all the committees that I serve on. Credit to them for looking into this issue and their hard work on the Darlington project which, as members would understand, is a very important project for the southern suburbs of Adelaide.

It is something that constituents in my electorate have a lot of interest in, even though it is obviously quite a far way away from my electorate, but many of us pass through Darlington often several times a day. Sometimes I even have the pleasure of being there perhaps half a dozen times a day through the Darlington precinct, and I can certainly attest that this project is very much needed. It certainly builds on the work that this government has done in duplicating the Southern Expressway, which was a long overdue improvement to the road infrastructure network in South Australia.

This will now mean a nonstop journey, not just from that point in Darlington at the traffic lights on South Road to get on to the Southern Expressway, but you will be able to travel from the Southern Expressway all the way down South Road and around the corner without having to stop, and that will be fantastic news for commuters, local businesses and tourism on the Fleurieu Peninsula as well, because we want to see as many people as possible to get down to see beautiful McLaren Vale in the member for Mawson's electorate as well as Kangaroo Island in the member for Finniss's electorate. There is a whole heap of attractions on offer down there.

This is currently a gridlocked area. A number of entry points into the Darlington precinct make it basically the definition of a bottleneck, and I understand it is the busiest road in South Australia through there at the moment. It is not uncommon to spend quite a significant amount of time in peak hour stuck in traffic there which is not only annoying for commuters who want to get home to their families but it is also difficult for businesses that need to ship products and get them to market.

The original plan was released some time ago and this updated plan that has gone to the Public Works Committee has got a number of changes made to it. In my view, I think they are very sensible changes. They essentially do two things. One is they address an issue that was raised by people who live in the member for Fisher's electorate, and also to some extent the member for Davenport's and the member for Bright's electorates, where they want to get the benefits of the non-stop expressway up Main South Road as well, not just onto the expressway.

So, this new project, this change to the project, will now give nonstop travel either way in either direction if you want to head down south; that is a good improvement. The other improvement is that under the original plan the Ayliffes Road-South Road intersection was going to become quite a complex intersection with a nonstop road, a stopping road, and South Road and Ayliffes Road joining together in a massive intersection. This now changes that so that intersection will stay much as it is at the moment but with the ability to change it in future years as we build the rest of the nonstop expressway.

I commend the officers in DPTI for their amendments to the plan. I think they are very sensible. I would encourage DPTI—and I know the minister is on the case on this already—to make sure that we meet the success that we had on the Southern Expressway project in terms of local employment on this new Darlington project. It is fitting that the member for Mawson is here because I know he had a large amount to do with the work of ensuring that the majority of the people who worked on the Southern Expressway project actually came from the southern suburbs of Adelaide.

The project exceeded all of its targets for vulnerable people, Aboriginal people and workers. It was a tremendous success for local participation in that project. While there are some interjections from the other side, the statistics bear out that that project works successfully and amazingly well. I would like to see similar success in this Darlington project.

One thing that is also going to be important in the delivery of this project is to make sure that we have good traffic management systems in place because it is, obviously, the busiest road in South Australia. We need to make sure that, while it is under construction, people are able to get to work, business and school as uninterrupted as possible. I know the department is working very hard to make sure that can happen.

One element of that is to expand the Marion-Sturt roads intersection, which work is about to start on soon. That will be another thoroughfare that people can use. I think the department is also looking at whether additional train services can be used to help transfer people either along the Seaford line or the Tonsley spur line. I will be keeping a close eye on that, as one of the local members, because that is going to be very important for people in my electorate.

I think the last thing to say is that this is yet another stage of the upgrade of the complete north-south corridor. We have obviously had some sections of that done already with the Northern Expressway completed, the Southern Expressway completed, soon we will start on the Torrens to Torrens project, we have the South Road superway completed, the Darlington project will start soon and the Northern Connector project will start soon, all of which are aiding local businesses, tourism and commuters. We want to make sure that we keep up that momentum and look at the next parts of the project as well.

Obviously, around Castle Plaza on South Road is where there is a significant amount of congestion in peak hours at the moment, so I certainly encourage us to look at that as a key priority when we are upgrading the rest of the road. By undertaking all of these projects, we will help to address traffic and freight issues across the whole north-south corridor of Adelaide. I commend the government as well as thank the federal government for their support, and I thank the Public Works Committee for their report..

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:37): Thank you to the members for Chaffey, Finniss, Bright and Kaurna. I think the fact that we have had so many members speak on this particular project displays how significant it is as part of the broader plan over the next 10 years.

I take on board everything everyone has said here today, particularly about the section that goes through my electorate, the piece of South Road past Castle Plaza. That is something, as the local member, I advocate for consistently because it is actually quite a bottleneck with many pedestrians, aged pedestrians and young families crossing that very busy road, plus many sets of traffic lights that intersect that road that cause quite a congestion between all types of motor vehicles and freight vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists. I look forward to some solutions coming forward in the future.

I thank the Public Works Committee for its very hard work and I thank all those who brought the project to us, those who made submissions and, also, the witnesses. I recommend the report to the house.

Motion carried.