The influence of the Black Forest Community, and Clarence Park, and our Glandore neighbours on the design of the T2D project is significant.
This is the most sensitive section of the Department of Infrastructure & Transport (DIT) T2D (Torrens to Darlington) project. It will therefore be a major focus of discussions between the Department and the communities bordering the South Road corridor.
Most people would be aware that geological testing along the project is well underway. This is a vital leading strategy to enable the detailed design of the project to occur. It has signaled the commencement of design of this section of the North-South corridor.
Another vital component is for the Department’s design team to utilize local knowledge. As I indicated in my previous blog post on this topic DIT will be seeking the input of the local community. Seeking the influence of the Black Forest Community
Identifying issues that need to be addressed is best placed with the local community. Likewise, enabling the best solutions to be incorporated into the final design should include input from the community.
DIT has therefore formed community and business reference groups. One each for each stage of the project, north, and south of Anzac Highway.
They held the first meeting of the stage I T2D Reference Group at the Kenilworth Football Club at St Mary’. I am a member of the group. An independent convener ran the meeting.
Ironically, most of the members of the reference group live near and have a focus on the section between Anzac Highway and Cross Road. This is where the transition from at grade to the tunnel is expected to happen. It is therefore understandable.
T2D is the last component of the North-South Corridor. It is in the most congested section of South Road. The construction will be the most complex of the whole project with a mix of tunnels, at grade, and transition between the two. For this reason, it will be split into two stages.
Construction of stage 1 is expected to commence in late 2023. This is the section between Anzac Highway and Darlington. Construction of the 2nd section, north of Anzac Highway, is scheduled between 2026 and 2030.
To achieve this a reference design needs to be complete by the end of this year. The tendering process can then occur in 2022. The role of the Reference Group is to identify issues & suggest mitigation strategies that can be fed into the T2D project assessment report and the reference design.
We will be meeting we expect monthly.
The group has already identified many issues. Issues previously identified by me.
One of the major concerns expressed by the group was East-west connectivity, irrespective of whether they lived east or west of South Road. Protecting the Black Forest Primary School, and access to and from the school, was likewise high on the list of concerns.
Local access to and from the local streets during and once the project was complete was also a concern. So too is how the Department intends to address access into and out of the tunnel.
In the first instance, for South Road commuters wanting to use Anzac Highway to visit the CBD. The other, to allow heavy transport (B-Doubles) wanting to access the tunnels from Cross Road.
Thank you for this information.
The preliminary concept design shows the north end of the southern tunnel emerging on the west side of South Road across from Black Forest Primary School.
It is imperative that the school is protected, so the final reference design must also ensure the tunnel emerges on the west side of South Road.
However, why should the tunnel start/end on the south side of the tram bridge? Several homes and businesses could be saved in Glandore if the tunnel emerged on the north side of the tram bridge instead.
Please keep urging those responsible for the final reference design to (i) leave the school untouched and (ii) save properties in Glandore by ending the tunnel north of the tram bridge.
Spot on Greg.
You can rest assured this is a common theme from the committee’s community members. This is because this section of the road is of particular interest to the majority of the members as they either live their (Glandore or Black Forest) or the those who live further south because their kids go to BFPS.
Hello Don (and others).
I have noticed that the briefing materials given to the Community/Business Reference Groups in March 2021 indicate that DPTI/govt want to ‘prioritise’ trucks carrying freight on/off the freeway to use Cross Road and South Road – presumably instead of Portrush Road…
If that is the plan, please urge those responsible to allow trucks to enter/exit the tunnel at the Cross Road / South Road intersection, rather than making the trucks travel on the surface level South Road between Cross Road and Anzac Highway. If they fill the surface level South Road with freight trucks, all the gains from getting cars off the road and into the tunnel will be lost.
Regards – Greg.
This has been a focus of mine Greg.
Recognising that the current Government (Liberals) has determined it must follow the lead of the previous government (labour) and bring freight down Cross Road and into South Road, I have concerns (already expressed) about how the Emerson intersection will look.
The committee meets again next week and I will continue to push for an appreciation of the impacts that this can/will make if they get it wrong.
why do i keep getting letter box drops from the liberal party stating they want heavy truck freight to go via GREATER ADELAIDE FREIGHT BYPASS AND NOT DOWN CROSS RD TO SOUTH RD its confusing me and i’m already worried about these tunnels being close to me as i live in George St Clarence Park.
I see Suzanne you have commented on an old post. I have posted several times since on the north-south corridor. Sometimes with hope, sometimes with frustration.
The flyer you are talking about, I assume, is from the member for Elder, Carolyn Power. At the next state election, you and I will be in the seat of Elder rather than the seat of Badcoe. This brochure is telling us that the current Government does not plan to make Cross Road a freight route. This is because they plan to divert road freight from Murray Bridge through Truro.
This potentially is good news. Keeping freight traffic of Cross Road is a must I believe.
This is one third the plan they had 4 years ago. In other words, they are planning to implement the road component of their Globelink plan of 2018.
Happy to catch up with you, perhaps at Rise & Grind for a coffee to discuss this in further depth.
Keep a lookout for a future blog post from me in the near future on this topic, after I ascertain more detail from Carolyn. I am hoping to catch up with her to confirm if this is a promise on the Liberals part, or whether it is a project that has been approved in the forward estimates. Likewise, I am hoping to catch up with Nadia Clancy, the Labor candidate for Elder to ascertain their plans for freight on Cross Road.
Hi Don
I felt positive after getting these leaflets from the liberals but when i went to the meeting at Scotch on the 18th I was shocked. One speaker seemed the diversion at Truro was the best, but he said that there was fierce lobbying from powerful people urging the government to make Cross Rd an extension of the freeway. If you get a straight answer from the politicans a coffee at Rise & Grind might be informative.
Wish me luck!
Dear Suzanne, you are asking for a straight answer from a politician. Observe that at least one current Liberal member facing a horrified electorate at Scotch College shouted at the end that there had been no talk of a freeway down Cross Rd. That is so obviously not true that it beggars belief. Even by the standards of say ‘x’ with the election in mind and then do ‘y’, the audacity is something to behold.
As we discussed the other day at Rise & Grind Cathy, I hope to do a post on what I have discovered soon.