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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-06-04 Daily Xml
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Traffic Management

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (14:31): My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister inform the house on how the Marshall and Morrison governments are fixing congestion in our northern suburbs?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:31): I thank the member for Newland for his question and note that traffic congestion in the north and north-eastern suburbs is a big issue and one that this government is very keen to get on and tackle, building on the relationship that we have with the federal Morrison government as it continues. What was really exciting about that election result was that that money that was secured in the federal budget that is going towards delivering these three intersections in the northern suburbs of Adelaide is secure after a lack of bipartisan support shown during the election campaign.

These are three very important intersections for a variety of different reasons. The first, around the Grand Junction/Hampstead/Briens roads intersection, which is essentially the border for the Port Adelaide Enfield and Florey electorates, carries 58,000 cars a day and is due to reach capacity in 2021. This is part of our road network in dire need of an upgrade, and there is $19 million on the table—fifty-fifty from the federal and state governments—to deliver that. We know that it is an important part of the existing freight corridor.

Noting that we are going through a process of assessing GlobeLink and how moving freight around the Hills can be part of our future, this is an issue that is part of our traffic present and one that we need to get on and tackle. Making sure that trucks turning right from Grand Junction Road onto Hampstead Road in a safer and quicker time frame means that we can open up and unlock capacity at that intersection for those other through movements, for those people heading east-west, as well as those people heading north-south.

We then move on to Main North Road/Kings Road/McIntyre Road, an intersection that would be very dear to the hearts of the members for Wright and Playford, with $13 million to fix up an intersection that takes 78,000 cars a day. Essentially, the real issue with that intersection is once again those right-hand turn movements for people heading up Main North Road and turning right onto McIntyre Road.

The ability to provide extra capacity at that part of the intersection also means that we can get increased through-running for people at that intersection. It will also help to improve road safety by making sure that everybody sticks to their lane and that those who want to turn can do so without getting in the way of traffic that simply wants to get through to get home.

The third, and possibly the most iconic intersection of the three, is the upgrade to Scotty's Corner, a part of our road network that takes 66,000 cars a day. Especially for people heading out of town and wanting to turn right down Nottage Terrace, the bank up and line up in peak hour is of real concern. For the huge number of buses that take that road into town, the route 22 buses that head up Main North Road into town, the ability to provide a longer bus lane as well as a corresponding left-hand turn lane from Main North Road into Nottage Terrace is extremely important to help that part of our road network flow more smoothly.

I also want to dispel the myth that Hit 107 was talking about this morning in trying to predict the demise of Scotty the Scotsman. I can put paid to that rumour, it being false, and say that the Scotsman is safe, but note that there is a lot of work that we need to do at that intersection to upgrade again what is a pretty difficult and unsafe part of our road network.

This $51 million upgrade to these three intersections forms part of a massive injection of money that we have managed to secure by having a good ongoing relationship with the Morrison Liberal government, and I was really pleased to see minister Tudge and minister McCormack returned in their respective roles. I have already reaffirmed those relationships, as soon as possible after the election result was known, to make sure that we can build on the good work of sitting down and working constructively across two spheres of government to deliver better productivity, better road safety and better congestion-busting outcomes for the people of South Australia.

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