Tolls now inevitable for new Adelaide road

The failure of the new Federal Labor government to commit to sufficient funding to complete the north south corridor via AusLink 2, means that a toll is now inevitable if the construction is to be completed by 2014 warns transport lobby group the Committee for Adelaide Roads.

“The upgrade of South Road to make it a 22km free flowing road link is a $2bn project. It is clear that the state funding is limited. With only $500m from the federal government, the shortfall will need to be met by private sector investment if the project is to be completed in a reasonable time. The alternative is for this critical project to blow out to beyond 2020 which is just not acceptable to the SA community,” says committee chairman Barrie Hosking .

Hosking said that in meetings with Labor's then transport spokesman Martin Ferguson, the committee and other transport groups had pressed for a commitment to complete the project by 2014. “We made it very clear that the private sector and the state government consider this as the single most important transport project for this state, and we were under the impression that our message was getting through.

“We are disappointed that the Labor party have committed less than a quarter of the project's estimated construction cost, despite over $22bn being available for the national network over the next five years under AusLink 2. This stands in stark contrast with their commitment to major projects in NSW and Queensland.”

Hosking said that modelling carried out by the committee, indicated that the north-south corridor project would be viable as a toll road. “With traffic flows of more than 70,000 vehicles a day, and potential time savings of up to 20 minutes, this is probably the only toll road opportunity in South Australia.

“We can appreciate the state government's reluctance to embrace tolls as a means of funding roads but with major water infrastructure projects and the Marjorie Nelson Jackson Hospital already stretching the state's capital budget the state government will be forced to look at other sources of financing.

“The other alternative of dribbling money at this project over 15 to 20 years as and when other priories allow is unpalatable. Aside from the impact that the constant disruptions to traffic flow and construction activities would have on the community, most of the benefits do not flow until the road is substantially completed,” Hosking said.

The Committee for Adelaide Roads (CAR) was established with the objective of providing input to government policy and to promote public debate on road transport infrastructure and economic development. CAR represents broad community interests within the road sector, including road transport operators, construction contractors and unions. It believes that an efficient road system is critical to Adelaide and SA's future economic development.