Hartley Electorate Road Upgrades

Mr DULUK (Waite) (14:17): Sir, this question will be of great interest to you. My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister update the house on the Marshall government's commitment to install traffic lights at the intersection of Newton Road and Graves Street in your electorate of Hartley?

The SPEAKER: Excellent question.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:17): I don't know what sort of stitch-up is going on here, but I'm more than happy to answer any question through any proxy that you may wish to have that question asked. I am very pleased to update the house on the work that is being done to upgrade the intersection at Newton Road and Graves Street in your electorate.

We talk here a lot about the $11.9 billion profile of infrastructure spending that we have going across our state. There is not one corner of this state that is not being touched by this massive investment that we have put on the table. The Premier outlined in the previous answer what is happening at a macro level, but so often the issues that communities grapple with are small and discrete and are matters that are close to their heart and, dare I say, close to where they live.

The commitment that we made before the election of some $3.4 million towards upgrading this intersection speaks to the fact that it's not only the big projects that need to be completed but those small augmentations that help to keep our city's traffic moving. Mr Speaker, you would well know, after all the letters that you have written to me in relation to the increase in density of dwellings that exist in your community, especially in the Campbelltown council area, after what I would now consider a pretty disastrous DPA process in 2014, that that led to some really unintended consequences: an intensity of traffic that, because of the nature of the development and the nature of these dwellings being built, did not capture the impacts on a cumulative basis that this was going to happen on our road network.

This government is willing to respond to that, to spend the infrastructure money necessary to make sure that we have the road network that can cater to the demand that is out there. This project on the corner of Newton Road and Graves Street is extremely important to put paid to that but also to really help local communities realise that this government is willing to invest.

The installation of traffic signals, a separated left-hand turn and right-hand lane on Graves Street onto Newton Road, the installation of a new right-hand turn lane onto Newton Road into Graves Street, the relocation of the existing pedestrian-actuated crossing, fully signalised pedestrian crossings at the new signals, as well as provision for cyclists, I think means that we have an upgrade to this intersection that is going to cater for not only vehicles but pedestrians crossing the street to get to the local church and the other amenities around there and also cyclists who want to navigate that intersection just that much more easily.

This project is at the heart of what this government is seeking to do and that is to invest in our road network to support the population growth ambition of this government and also to make sure that we integrate that with our broader plan of how we want to see Adelaide developed. I think what we have been able to do in the area of Campbelltown City Council and those surrounding suburbs is to right two wrongs: to right the wrong in relation to the intensity of infill development that was happening and some pretty adverse outcomes for local communities, and also being willing to put in the money to fix up the infrastructure in the areas that so desperately need it so that the people of the eastern suburbs, the people of your electorate, Mr Speaker, can have the community that they want, the community that they deserve and the community that they voted for in the 2018 election.