The Coalition has revealed its plan to deliver an $840 million Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass, to help remove heavy vehicles from congested suburban streets – if elected in the upcoming federal election on May 3.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said yesterday (April 7) that the bypass would take trucks off Cross Road and “get trucks out of our hills and out of suburbs”.
“We are the only state without a freight bypass,” Dutton said.
“So, this brings us up to the standard of every other capital city and I could not be more excited. We want people to be safer, we want our truckies to be able to get all of their goods to market sooner.”
According to Dutton, this is something he has been working on for over a decade.
He says the $840 million pledge to build this bypass would take trucks out of suburbs.
“It provides a safety corridor and it provides something that every other state takes for granted.
“We can’t have trucks coming down through one of the most dangerous intersections and road corridors in our country and pretend that nothing is to be done about it.
“The Prime Minister came to Adelaide and he promised 50 per cent funding for this project. That meant that the South Australian Government wasn’t going to go ahead with this project because their argument is that it should have been 80-20 like other jurisdictions have had.”
Former state and federal governments had previously committed to the project and stage one of a Truro bypass, which was scheduled to begin in late 2023. However the project was axed only nine months before works were due to commence.
Then last month, the federal government announced $525 million over 10 years for the High Productivity Vehicle Network (HPVN) as part of the 2025-2026 Federal Budget.
The HPVN would deliver upgrades between the South Eastern Freeway and Sturt Highway such as the duplication of the Swanport Bridge and Murray Bridge Township Bypass in Monarto.
Dutton explained, “Our announcement means that a Commonwealth Government will contribute 80 per cent of the cost of this project and that will mean that the South Australian State Government has money spare to spend on other road projects.
“Our plan is to get this bypass built, the money is on the table now, it starts this year and we can work closely with the South Australian Government to see this come to fruition.”
The City of Burnside has previously shown its support for the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass, with its CEO Chris Cowley and Mayor Anne Monceaux lobbying for funding to be reinstated.
The council says it is in favour of a reduction in the volume of heavy vehicles on Portrush and Glen Osmond Roads via the bypass, which it said would also increase freight productivity, reduce damage and injuries as a result of traffic collisions, improve traffic flow, and reduce noise and pollution.
Recently, the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters echoed these calls for a Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass. In a release last month, the council said it “is concerned about the safety of all road users due to the ever-increasing number of large freight vehicles using the South-Eastern Freeway and subsequently, Portrush, Glen Osmond and Cross Roads.”
The council would like to see the bypass come to fruition to reduce the volume of heavy vehicles on Portrush and Glen Osmond Roads.
“The council also supports calls for the reinstatement of Federal funding to develop the GAFB, including the Truro Bypass project, to achieve national productivity goals.
“Implementation of the GAFB would also form an important part of creating a High Productivity Vehicle Network (HPVN) across South Australia, which seeks to maximise the efficiency of South Australia’s freight network and improve interstate supply chain connectivity.”
So, talking about an Adelaide road-freight by-pass, Dutton says: “We are the only state without a freight bypass.” ?? That’s strange; I thought he was a Queenslander? Looking at the route planned for the by-pass, I reckon it will double the distance that has to be covered to get to, say, Gawler, from Murray Bridge. Does that mean all the owner-drivers will be paid more, for the extra distance that has to be travelled? And, it’s a hell of a long way to travel, if you are coming from Melbourne to a depot at Wingfield or Port Adelaide. Yet another politicians ‘thought-bubble brain-wave’!