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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-08-05 Daily Xml
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Southern Expressway

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure: can the minister update the house on the opening of the duplicated Southern Expressway?

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning, Minister Assisting the Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:56): I thank the member for Reynell for this very important question, and I note her strong interest in this subject, particularly given the benefits the project has for her constituents in the southern suburbs and, of course, for people living in or visiting the Fleurieu Peninsula.

On Sunday I had the privilege of joining the Premier, as well as the members for Kaurna and Reynell, to officially open the duplicated Southern Expressway. For many years South Australia's one-way expressway has been—probably the most congenially I can put this—an oddity. It has been a significant traffic impediment for southern suburbs commuters and businesses, as well as for tourists and visitors—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —on their way to South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Want another crack, do you?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for MacKillop.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The $407 million duplication project has been undertaken to address these shortcomings and to put an end to the frustration of traversing to and from the outer southern suburbs to find that, in fact, the expressway was not open to one's direction of traffic.

This 18.5 kilometre section of duplicated road will save commuters up to 13 minutes in travelling time, compared to travelling on Main South Road. It will also reduce traffic on other nearby arterial roads such as Lonsdale Road and, of course, Main South Road. I know this will be particularly important for many people travelling to and from the city, as well as local businesses in terms of reducing transit times and costs and increasing their productivity.

The construction stage of the duplicated expressway has also brought many benefits to South Australia and the South Australian economy. The project has had over 1,800 workers on site, and I am advised that nearly 90 per cent of these workers were from South Australia and 58 per cent of these, or nearly two-thirds, came from the southern suburbs. South Australian businesses also benefited with, I am advised, approximately 86 per cent of subcontract packages being awarded to South Australian businesses, with nearly a quarter going to local southern suburb businesses.

One particularly pleasing aspect of the official opening on Sunday was the involvement of Mr Rex Herde of SA Guardrailers. Rex has been installing guardrails on South Australian road projects for nearly 30 years. Based in Kadina, Rex installed nearly seven kilometres of guardrail on the original Southern Expressway project. On the duplication project, Rex was involved in the installation of significant tracts of guardrail as well. Quite proudly, he wielded the scissors with the Premier and cut the ribbon at the opening of the Old Noarlunga southern end of the new duplicated roadway.

Just as pleasingly, once the contractor vehicles had left the road, the first driver on the new section of road from Old Noarlunga was driving an HSV—a Holden-based vehicle. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the main contractor Lend Lease and the 1,800 workers for their hard work and dedication to this complex project, as well as the DPTI project team.

To put the project into some small perspective, it involved 20 bridges being constructed, extended or duplicated and over 250,000 tonnes of asphalt being laid. I would also like to acknowledge the southern suburbs residents and businesses that have been very understanding and patient during the construction period.

There will be some minor construction activity, such as landscaping and fencing continuing over the coming weeks that will require some lane closures, some interpeak and weekend closures, as well as reduced speed limits as the open-graded asphalt is worn in. I can advise that once grip testing has been satisfactorily reached, the duplicated section of the Southern Expressway will be ready for its 100 km/h speed limit. Finally, a project that South Australians can be proud of.

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