A Government-commissioned study prepared by Infrastructure SA has called for improvements to public transport throughout the Hills, but rejected a short term rail solution for the South Eastern Freeway.
Adelaide Hills Council Mayor, Jan-Claire Wisdom, says public transport is a key issue for Hills’ communities and impacted Councils have been asking for a long term corridor solution since 2010.
“While it’s disappointing to see short term rail proposed as a non-viable option, the study does highlight the issues with Freeway congestion caused by the Glen Osmond Road bottleneck and the frequency of incidents on the Freeway itself.”
“Many Mount Barker and Hills residents have no reasonable alternative route to the city and suburbs when the Freeway is blocked or congested.”
“Making public transport more accessible to the broad range of origin points for our dispersed Hills’ communities is vital to the solution,” she said.
Mayor Wisdom also says the study findings validate recent calls from Council and community groups to make the Freeway more reliable and safer, especially during bushfire emergencies, and to focus on Park ‘n’ Rides.
“We’ve supported a halt to selling and building on potential Park ‘n’ Ride sites in the Hills’ public transport network and called for investment in developing new ones.”
“We’d like to see commitments to improving public transport access through more and better Park ‘n’ Rides and expansion of the flexible Keoride style pick-up service into other parts of the Hills.”
“The issues identified in the study highlight the urgency of getting the greater Adelaide road freight bypass finished ASAP and freight rail corridor built as soon as possible – this is another essential pillar of building a long term transport solution.”
“The State Government must take the study findings seriously. In the lead up to the State election, we call on all parties to put forward their proposals for addressing Glen Osmond Road and reducing the frequency and impact of road incidents on the Freeway including any for short term rail.”
“Whoever is in government after the March State election must act with urgency on the short term solution and long term transport corridor.”
More News
