SARTA welcomes the State Government’s $36 billion transport plan but believes the draft should not be used as “political football”
By Ruza Zivkusic-Aftasi | October 29, 2013
The South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) has welcomed the State Government’s $36 billion transport plan but believes the draft should not be used as “political football”.
The 30-year Integrated Transport and Land Use Plan outlines future priorities for road and freight infrastructure which will see the 78km North-South Corridor completed.
The draft plan proposes duplicating Victor Harbor Road and Main South Road, expanding the High Productivity Vehicle Network and deliver regulatory reforms for freight.
It also recommends widening other roads and building more overtaking lanes and rest areas across the highway network, and providing strategically located freight hubs and intermodal facilities.
SARTA Executive Director Steve Shearer says the association will provide feedback to the Government once community discussions commence.
“The release of this draft transport plan must not act as the starting whistle in a game of political football between the political parties,” Shearer says.
“What we need now is sensible genuine discussion and debate by the community, industry and interest groups, and of course, politicians on the proposals, concepts and details in the draft plan with a genuine intent of ensuring that the State as a whole is involved in finalising the plan in the coming months.
“Once it is finalised, all those players should focus on supporting the earliest possible and responsible implementation of the plan and any refinements of it over the next 30 years.”
The draft plan is set to boost the economy and drive investment in rail and road freight networks, Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis says.
“We will undertake a comprehensive suite of actions to improve road safety, maintain and make better use of our existing valuable transport and infrastructure assets, and reduce the impact of transport and land use on our environment,” he says.
As part of the plan, inner and outer ring routes will be developed and a new freight line will be built to help address the evolving mining boom and freight task, which grew by nearly 6 per cent in 2010/11 to 35.7 billion tonne kilometres.
With up to 53,000 freight and commercial trips made on the regional network each day, the cost of congestion is estimated to grow to $1.1 billion in 2020.
The overall freight task is up by 106 per cent since 2001-01, compared with a national increase of 36 per cent.
A managed motorway system will be implemented on the South Eastern Freeway and the north-south corridor and the Port River Expressway, using intelligent transport technologies to improve traffic flow.
