House of Assembly Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Parliamentary Committees Public Works Committee: North-South Corridor Northern Connector Project Public Works Committee: North-South Corridor Northern Connector Project Adjourned debate on motion of Ms Digance: That the 536^th report of the committee, entitled North-South Corridor Northern Connector Project, be noted. (Continued from 18 November 2015.) Mr WHETSTONE House of Assembly Chaffey Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:51): I rise to speak on the 536^th report of the Public Works Committee regarding the North-South Corridor Northern Connector Project. The north-south corridor is one of Adelaide's most important transport corridors, as it is the major route for north-south traffic, including freight vehicles running between Gawler and Old Noarlunga. The corridor is also a major access route for interstate freight from Perth, Darwin and Sydney. The upgrade to the Northern Connector is a federal and state government project. It is an 80:20 partnership in the $985 million project. This is a project that has been on the agenda for more than a decade, and planning finally started in 2008, with the preliminary concept completed in 2011. It will reduce travel times by seven to eight minutes and remove major freight traffic from Port Wakefield Road, making it safer for local traffic movements. Not only will it make it safer but it will create a free-flowing traffic stream, reduce carbon emissions and frustrations on the road, and wear and tear on vehicles. I think it is a project long overdue. The report for the project states: Once completed, the 78 kilometre corridor will comprise the following road links: Northern Expressway from Gawler to Port Wakefield Road… Northern Connector from Port Wakefield Road to the Port River Expressway… South Road Superway, from the Port River Expressway to north of Regency Road… Upgrade of South Road from the South Road Superway to the north of Torrens Road, Torrens Road to the River Torrens… Upgrade South Road from the River Torrens to Darlington… Darlington Upgrade from Ayliffes Road to the Southern Expressway…, and Southern Expressway from Darlington to Old Noarlunga… The Northern Connector project aims to provide a nonstop expressway between the Northern Expressway, the Port River Expressway and the South Road superway in the south. Having driven around regional South Australia and coming into the city, particularly heading south of Adelaide or south of the metropolitan area, I know that it will be a boon. It will be a cost saving for every transport operator and every person who uses that corridor. There are many utility services along the way that cross over this proposed connection, including several high-pressure gas pipelines, power networks, optic fibre and stormwater drains, so there are some barriers that will need to be overcome. This construction requires a lot of land acquisition and a lot of it is government land. It is a project that is well needed, well wanted and well supported by the committee. In conclusion, I commend the report to the house. Mr KNOLL House of Assembly Schubert Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (11:54): I rise today to also offer a few comments on the Northern Connector project. It has been identified as basically a billion dollar project, of which 80 per cent of the funding has come from the federal government. It is something that our leader, the member for Dunstan, was calling for in his budget reply speech earlier this year, and it is great that his call for the project has been heeded. Having done a bit of research on this topic, I note some of the issues and conjecture around the Northern Expressway as it was built and completed. Back in 2006, we saw a $200 million cost blowout to the project. There seem to be some familiar themes here in terms of cost blowouts with this government. Basically, Pat Conlon, as the then infrastructure minister, needed to go cap in hand to the government to ask for that extra couple of hundred million dollars. The Northern Expressway was a great project that has helped to really reshape the way people visit and enter the Barossa. Prior to that, the Barossa Valley Way via Gawler was the prime way that people went into the Barossa. From the perspective of the cellar doors and tourism facilities in Lyndoch, Williamstown or Rowland Flat, they enjoyed almost first dibs on the tourists as they came up. Gomersal Road, which was otherwise known as a bit of a tradesman's entrance into the Barossa, was bituminised, and it was supposed to take 1,000 cars a day, but it ends up now taking about 8,000 cars a day. If you combine the bituminising of Gomersal Road with the Northern Expressway, you create from the centre of Adelaide to the main street of Tanunda a singular pathway that takes about an hour. In a practical sense, people view the Adelaide Hills or McLaren Vale, for example, as easier to get to, but the Barossa with the Northern Expressway and Gomersal Road as extremely important. However, it has reshaped the way that people visit the Barossa. So, instead of people coming up via the Barossa Valley Way, they come via Gomersal Road and go straight into Tanunda. That has had an impact on the southern Barossa communities and their ability to have their share of the tourism visitors. I am very much looking forward to it, and even though I know that the Gawler East Link Connector Road, or whatever they are calling it today, is not necessarily for through traffic—it is designed for local traffic—unlocking the gridlock from Murray Street in Gawler will be a very good thing. As well as connecting with the Northern Expressway and making it even easier for members of the western suburbs to come to my electorate, it is also is a way for freight to go the other way. We see huge wine industries, agricultural industries and a lot of our agricultural exports flowing down the Northern Expressway and going out to the Port River and the docks to be loaded onto ships and exported. The Northern Connector project will help to make that a lot easier. It is definitely something my industry supports. Indeed, Brian Smedley of the South Australian Wine Industry Association, a man who is across all the issues and someone I rely on for solid advice on all issues wine, has talked about the benefits. He said: [It will] complete the road which goes from our wine regions of the north right down to the port of Adelaide so it is an important aspect to facilitate trade and reduce costs… This is especially so at this time, when we are a higher cost producer when it comes to wine versus the rest of the world. This is an important project. I seek leave to continue my remarks. Leave granted; debate adjourned.