North-South Corridor

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:39): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister update the house on the progress of projects on the north-south corridor and the benefits from future upgrades to the corridor?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:39): I thank the member for Kaurna for his question and ongoing interest in these projects. Last week, the $896 million Torrens Road to the River Torrens project—the project that the leader and deputy leader promised to scrap at the last election—reached a significant milestone, with now more than half of all works on the project complete.

Local residents in Croydon, Dudley Park, Ridleyton, Renown Park, West Hindmarsh and Torrensville are all currently experiencing the benefits of this great project even while it is still under construction. Residents in these suburbs and beyond are experiencing better traffic flow, greater access to their communities, improved traffic management and safer conditions. More than 50,000 trucks and cars use this section of South Road each day, on top of the tens of thousands of motorists each using Torrens Road, Port Road and Grange Road. The benefits of this project are being felt by hundreds of thousands of residents in the western suburbs.

Works are also progressing well on the $620 million Darlington upgrade project. Major construction works have commenced at Darlington, with the intersection of Main South Road and Flinders Drive realigned, piling works for the Main South Road bridge underway and construction of a new bridge over the Sturt River on Main South Road to commence next month. The benefits of this project will be experienced by hundreds of thousands of residents in the southern suburbs.

Works are also progressing on the $985 million Northern Connector project, with early works having so far realigned Kings and Bolivar roads. The benefits of avoiding six sets of traffic lights on Port Wakefield Road will benefit residents, businesses and freight operators across the northern suburbs and beyond.

Given the commonwealth's commitment to deliver the upgrade fully over a 10-year period of the north-south corridor, the government is continuing our discussions with both Infrastructure Australia and the commonwealth on the next stages of the South Road upgrade. Remaining sections between Tonsley and Torrensville will mean residents in adjacent suburbs like Ashford, Everard Park, Clovelly Park, Melrose Park, Edwardstown, Clarence Gardens, Glandore and Kurralta Park will get faster, safer travel and better traffic management in their communities. It will also mean a better road network for hundreds of thousands of South Australian motorists across the inner and outer southern suburbs.

This government is committed, along with the federal government, to continuing the upgrade of the north-south corridor and its completion over a 10-year period, a period we are approximately a quarter into with just under a third of the necessary funding already committed and being spent on this upgrade. There will be a choice between continuing these works and the better roads, safer communities and better access for all the residents in these areas in seats like Elder, Badcoe, Black and Gibson, or there will be a choice for a different project, and that's a $3 billion to $5 billion sandbag for three Adelaide Hills safe Liberal seats, which are due to be protected by what the Leader of the Opposition and his shadow transport minister call Globe Link.

We know where our priority lies, and it lies with the hundreds of thousands of South Australians who will benefit from the north-south corridor rather than an uneconomic, unviable and logistically impractical project as touted by the opposition.