Road Safety

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (15:33): I wish to raise in the house a number of important road safety issues in my community, and I want to inform members of the work I have done to date to progress and upgrade the Onkaparinga Valley Road/Nairne Road intersection at Woodside. The intersection is a busy one and forms part of the key freight route in a bustling town. Many cyclists use the nearby Amy Gillett Bikeway and pass in and around the town of Woodside. Notwithstanding the difficult budget position the state has inherited from Labor, I will continue to advocate for improvements to Hills roads, including this Woodside intersection, as other members will do in their electorates for their road projects.

Members will know that the state debt will peak at nearly $16 billion—a huge burden for a state of only 1.7 million people. The state's interest bill will peak at nearly $730 million. This is but one element of the mess we have inherited. During the state election campaign, I highlighted the Nairne Road/Onkaparinga Valley Road intersection as a key priority on the Nairne/Woodside road, having secured funding for the Nairne intersection to the south, at the intersection of Woodside/Nairne road and Old Princes Highway.

Since that time, I have doorknocked exclusively throughout the Onkaparinga Valley. Local residents have told me of their concerns regarding this intersection and the Nairne intersection. I have made numerous representations to the Minister for Transport to advocate for an upgraded intersection in Woodside. I have obtained a copy of the traffic management designs for the new supermarket development to occur at this junction. Let me assure members that I will continue to advocate for an upgraded Woodside intersection, as I have done since the campaign.

Members will also know that in the state budget up to $5 million has been secured to upgrade the Woodside Road/Old Princes Highway intersection at Nairne, an intersection to which I have previously referred. This is an important upgrade. Funding is now secure, the first time to my knowledge it has ever been secure under any state government. The department is undertaking work on the Nairne intersection, including traffic assessments, engineering surveys and concept development for the upgrade, with the works to commence in 2019-20 in accordance with the state budget papers.

I have met the project team leaders and reviewed early concept plans. The project team will consult with the community on concept plans, and I understand that they are also planning to meet with members of the Nairne and District Residents' Association at my encouragement. Importantly, the previous government took, to my knowledge, not a single real step to plan for the Nairne interjection upgrade. The project is starting cold.

Members will also know that the state, through the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI), is widening the Inverbrackie Bridge and upgrading the Onkaparinga Valley Road/Riverview Road junction. The bridge is a vital part of a very busy road corridor, linking Lobethal and head of the valley communities to Woodside, Oakbank and Balhannah and providing access to Nairne via both Riverview Road and Woodside Road. To the south-west, the Onkaparinga Valley Road provides a link towards Bridgewater, Aldgate and Stirling, and to the city via the freeway at Verdun.

Many local residents, including me, regularly drive along the Onkaparinga Valley Road and use the Riverview Road intersection. It is a dangerous intersection, and I am pleased that DPTI has produced a functional road layout for the upgrade that will increase safety. The commonwealth government has also made available up to $1 million for a traffic study to consider traffic movements in and around Hahndorf, and I have been a particularly strong advocate for that funding. I hope that the outcome of that study will provide a useful basis for further investment in the road network in my community.

Works on the Inverbrackie Bridge and Riverview Road junction have commenced and are expected to be completed by July, weather permitting. Those works include building a new bridge with wider structures, the installation of new guard rails and bridge barriers. My community has waited many years for the Inverbrackie Bridge and Riverview Road junction upgrade and for an upgrade to the Nairne intersection. I am delighted that both projects are proceeding. I want to reflect briefly on the state of country roads not just in the Hills.

After 16 years of substantial underinvestment by the former government, country roads in this state are in an appalling condition. Over time, I know that the new minister is working to improve Hills and country roads. It is a big task. As I said before in this place, a great deal has been left undone by the previous government. We are now playing catch-up, especially because the previous government rezoned a significant part of the Hills in and around Mount Barker for large-scale housing development in 2010.

It must be remembered that almost one in four South Australians lives in our regions, including the Hills; that number will grow. We need safe and efficient country roads.