6 ways road users benefit from the Federal Budget
The Federal Budget has been announced, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has made his big speech, and now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty and see how the government’s spending will impact our state.
The good news is funding will be injected into several key road projects that RAA has been calling for.
There were 2 major wins for road users: $625 million was allocated to transport and infrastructure in South Australia, while another $2 billion was set aside nationally for road-safety projects.
Let’s look at where exactly the money is going.
1. South Eastern Fwy upgrades
Cash: $28m + $7m from the state government Following RAA’s South Eastern Fwy assessment, we’ve seen several announcements about upgrades to the major arterial road. RAA’s report called for a range of safety improvements, including an additional safety ramp near the bottom of the freeway. We’re still waiting on further details to be released about where the funding will be spent. That being said, we should see resealing between Crafers and Glen Osmond, refurbishment of the Heysen tunnels and new speed-activated signs on the downtrack.
The South Eastern Freeway will see several upgrades. Image: RAA
2. Hahndorf township improvements
Cash: $200m + $50m from the state government Many motorists raised concerns about the popular Hahndorf main street (Mount Barker Rd) in RAA’s Adelaide Hills Regional Road Assessment. The main thoroughfare sees a high level of freight, pedestrian and tourist traffic, which has caused concerns about congestion and safety. RAA’s been pushing for an extra access point at Verdun for citybound traffic. The upgrade isn’t expected to start until late 2022. At this early stage, we’re not sure what it will include, so RAA will keep a close eye on how the project is panning out.
Hahndorf main street (Mount Barker Road) sees freight, car and pedestrian traffic. Image: RAA
3. Victor Harbor Rd upgrades (Mt Compass to Victor Harbor)
Cash: $12m Between 2015 and 2019, Victor Harbor Rd saw a shocking number of casualty crashes. In fact, there were 100, resulting in 6 fatalities.The area south of Mount Compass was the worst affected, with 3 times more casualty crashes per kilometre travelled than the area between McLaren Vale and Mt Compass.Our members are also worried about Victor Harbor Rd, voting it the third riskiest regional road in the RAA’s 2019 Risky Roads Survey. There’s no official word yet on exactly how the $12m will be spent, but there’s been talk about new overtaking lanes being installed.